White Petals
by MixyX21
Summary: A fateful encounter led Kirika Chiba meet a familiar person from her past. The name was Giyu Tomioka. At first, she couldn't belief if her Giyu was alive, or was it someone else who took that name, but it wasn't until a dream helped her figure it out. "So you were alive after all these years," her only hope was that he remembered her. "You never lost me, Giyu..."
1. Chapter 1

"Lady Chiba, close the window, or else you'll get sick," my handmaiden ran over to me and shut the window.

"I don't know why you're overprotective. I'm a grown woman who can handle myself. I like staring at the window because nothing has changed in this town. It's the same old routine… I want some adventure in my life. I want to seek the unknown!" I reopened the window to feel the fresh breeze touching my skin.

"My lady, you need to get ready for the morning," my handmaiden tried to usher me out of my room.

"Yes, I will get ready and help out the farmers!" I pleasantly smiled and ran off before my handmaiden could scold me and changed my attire.

This town I've been living in for eight years has gotten very dull. There was no change—everything was the same over and over again. I loved helping people out because it made my time go by faster and I forget how my life has been constant.

"Lady Chiba, how are you today?" a bystander asked, feeling in a cheery mood.

"I'm very good. I'm heading out to farm, and you?" I smiled back as I gripped my bamboo basket.

"I'm waiting for my son to get back from the city. It's been a little over two years since I last saw him," we had a little chat before I said my goodbyes and left.

Out in the blazing sun, I was ripping vegetables out of the ground and throwing it in my basket. My hands didn't start aching until I've finished five rows. I slowly stood up straight after bending forward for a long time. "Ah… my back hurts!" I used my hands to pound my lower back. It was a knotting pain.

"Chiba, you can go home now. We can handle the rest," one of the farmers said.

"No, it's okay! I'll help you guys finish," I didn't want to go back home yet. Harvesting crops made me feel at peace, or doing labor work.

"A beautiful lady like you should be finding a husband, not helping mere farmers out. Just leave your basket over there and enjoy the rest of your day," the farmer smiled and waved off, as I complied with his choice.

"Alright, I'll come back tomorrow to help out again. I hope you have a good day too," after I left, I was on the road back home. I stared down at my hands, they were rough and unpretty. I had the hands of a worker, not of a lady who had maids to do everything. I liked learning new things and understand people. My attire was pretty dirty from harvesting, but that didn't matter to me.

"Tanjirooooo…!"

I looked over my shoulder to see a group of boys walking twelve feet behind me. "I've never seen them before," I muttered to myself as I stopped walking. "Is this the change I've been waiting for?!" I suddenly got excited for this new vibe for my town, so I started to approach them. "Hey, are you guys lost?" I tilted my head while drew closer to them.

"Oh, hi," a boy with a scar on his head spoke first. "We're travelers from the far east mountain. A person told me that a resting place nearby would be town A."

"Travelers from the far east huh? That's interesting." I felt myself getting excited about their stay. "Well, you are heading to the right track. If you follow me, I can lead you since I reside there. Just keep up with me, I'm a fast walker," I politely smiled and then hurried off in the distance.

"Wait up!"

"What are your names?" I asked to break the ice.

"I'm Tanjiro Kamado. This is Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke Hashibira, and _Giyu Tomioka._" Tanjiro pointed at his friends as he named them.

"Giyu Tomioka…" I mutter quietly. His name rang a bell, but I couldn't remember. I knew his name will be stuck in my head until I remember who he was. "You can call me Kirika. I can tell you that it's a lovely town. There's always crops to buy, magnificent items to find, and really good food to eat that's the best part of it all."

"Food?! What kind of food are we talking about? I hadn't eaten good food for a long time…" Zenitsu drooled from his mouth as he fantasized how it'll look like.

"Food that's all I can tell you," I mischievously smiled and walked ahead of them.

We were all getting close to the town, so I quickly bid them farewell. "I'll depart now. I hope you look around town and see what you like. I'll see you guys pretty soon," I waved, walking in my own direction to my house.

"My lady! You've been gone for so long. I was worried sick about you!" my handmaiden wiped the dirt off from my face. "You knew too well that you had an appointment to find your suitor, my lady. You can't always be late to it. Don't you know it's hard to set one up?" she was scolding me as she cleaned me up.

I was in the bath as she was washing my hair. "You already know that I'm not looking for marriage, and you also know that I'm able to do things by myself, like _washing my own hair_." I stated the obvious to her. "I understand you try to play the mother role ever since I lost my parents, but sometimes it gets overbearing because I feel like a hostage in my own house. Instead of me finding a suitor, why don't you take my place?" she poured warm water over my head to wash down the shampoo.

"It's because I'm too old. I'd rather take care of you because it's my responsibility as your caretaker." She twisted the water out from my long raven hair and made ripples in the bathtub.

"I've come of age years ago. I'd love to find someone by myself than having someone else do it for me, or just be single for a while." I got out of the bath as water dropped on the ground while I wrapped a towel around my nude body. "Maybe I shouldn't go to the matchmaker. I'm not feeling it." I pouted like a child.

"Lady Chiba, you're the most beautiful girl that all men want. Long black hair, youthful face, pale skin, emerald eyes, and a slim figure." She combed my wet hair down and started to pat it dry.

"Well, I'm not a toy to pleasure horny men because of my looks, that's disgusting. I hate being the talk of the town... It's so annoying. Men are animals." I rolled my eyes in annoyance. I had too many offers of marriage to men I didn't know. They never cared about personality, it's always looks that appeal to them. "I think my life would've been better if I wasn't attractive. I want to be an average woman whom looks wasn't important."

"Come on, let's get you dress." My handmaiden replied as we moved rooms.

I was dressed in a floral emerald green kimono. "Gah…! Not too tight… I can't breathe too well," my stomach was getting squeezed by the obi. I didn't like how tight kimonos were. "Can't I just wear a loose fitting attire? I hate this..."

"How many times did I tell you that you have no choice. You're father would want you to be wed as soon as possible. You rejected so many marriages because you refuse to let your ideals go away." She was twisting my hair up and pinning many ornaments in my hair. My head was decorated and heavy.

"Well, I like my ideas of wanting to be free. It's awesome to not have anyone _restricting_ your wants." I glared at my handmaiden. "If I ever wed, you can do whatever you want with your life since I'm married to someone's else's family. Let's hurry before I am late,"

Walking to the matchmaker place, all eyes were on me. I desired no attention because I felt discomfort by their stares. I look around, remembering that the travelers were in town. "I wonder where they are?" I mumbled, hoping that I'll bump into them.

"Don't have a serious face, my lady. Put on a smile to present yourself when you enter the building." My handmaiden scolded me when she caught my attentive facial expression.

"Do you know the name _Giyu Tomioka_? It sounds oddly familiar, but I can't put my finger on it. It's a hazy blur that doesn't want to be remembered." I poundered, remembering his face: stoic eyes. His eyes were the only thing I can remember when I encounter them.

"It doesn't ring a bell, and you shouldn't be talking about other men when you're going to meet your suitor!" she again scolded me, and I was so tired of hearing marriage in my ear.

"Geez! I think I might runaway, or hang myself if you don't stop yelling in my ear." I was so frustrated, I was on the brink of hurting myself. I couldn't take this bullshit of how my life should be.

When I met my suitor, I couldn't help but be real with him. I didn't have the energy to be fake to someone I don't even want to marry. "I don't like you. You're too cocky and that's a turn off; you give me migraines. I don't need a man like you to be tied to," I rudely insulted him and fled the building.

The sun was setting, and I wanted to see if the travelers were still here. My heavy clothing was making me slow to run around the place, especially my head. There was too much ornaments and it was making my head hurt.

"Lady Chiba, how was your potential suitor?" People were asking many questions about the suitor, but I could care less about it because I didn't care much about suitors in general. It was getting annoying how I was being mobbed by mothers and fathers. They only cared to hear if I chose a suitor or not, so they could offer me their sons.

"OH!" I spotted them from a distant. They were near the charm stand. It seemed like they were observing it, and potentially wanting to buy some too. I ran full speed to greet them. I was running past people as I wanted to see them in spite of not knowing them. Having them come here sparked a feeling in me, especially the familiar name who I might know.

"Which one do you want, Inosuke? You can choose any—"

"It's nice seeing you guys around the area still!" I brightly smiled like the sun. I had a feeling that they were special.

"LADY CHIBA, I didn't notice you coming! I'm so sorry!" the merchant apologized.

"I hate my life…" I stared at the merchant.

"Lady Chiba?!" Tanjiro and Zenitsu yelled in pure shock.

"Don't call me that…" I frowned, feeling disappointed that everyone always has to find out what the town called me. "I'm not even that important. It's Kirika"

"So you're the talk of town huh?" Inosuke grumbled, staring at me through his boar mask.

"Always," I huffed out. "I wish I wasn't because it'd make my life much easier."

"You're… You're so beautiful!" Zenitsu cried, crumbling on his knees. "No wonder why she's the talk of the town. Her beauty outmatches any girls in this town!"

"Is he okay? Does he need to see a medic?" I watched Zenitsu rolling on the ground, crying as everyone watched him.

While his two friends were busy trying to calm him down, I turned to face Giyu Tomioka. "Giyu Tomioka," when I called his name we made eye contact. "Have we met before? Your name sounds oddly familiar to a person I once lost eight years ago." I tried staring deep into his eyes, trying to find any hints of who Giyu Tomioka was to me.

"No, I don't know you." Giyu said in a monotone voice. His facial expression never changed, there wasn't any hesitation in his voice at all.

"I guess I was wrong. I didn't think someone would have the same name as a person I knew years ago. I'll take my leave, and tell them goodbye from me since they're busy handling their friend." I felt like I didn't get any clear answer to my question from Giyu. He seemed like a mystery.

After I returned home, I got ready for bed. I took off all the ornaments in my hair and placed them away in a safe box, and I changed out of my fancy kimono to a light fabric. "Giyu Tomioka… Giyu Tomioka…" I was repeating his name over and over again because there was something missing in that puzzle piece. I knew the name but I couldn't remember the face from eight years ago. "Maybe the Giyu Tomioka I knew is dead, but it's rare to have the exact same name as someone else. Maybe he doesn't remember? Ugh, I should sleep than keep thinking." I tucked myself to bed and fell asleep.

_I opened my eyes to see I was at a wedding, someone's wedding. It was decorated in white. I looked around to see family and close friends watching the bride and groom. There was a boy and a girl who were playing with each other outside the ceremony. I walked closer to them, and quickly recognized that the girl was me and the boy must've been Giyu Tomioka. He was small. He was playing happily with the younger version of me. His eyes were very soft when he played with the young me. That Baby Giyu I knew resembled the one who's with the travelers. _

"_Come on, my sister's about to get married!" Baby Giyu grabbed young me by the hand and ran off to the ceremony. I followed the kids to the ceremony where his sister was going to get married. _

_His sister looked so beautiful. Her beauty was over the moon and she had such a gentle yet loving face when she stared at her husband-to-be. The way she looked at her husband, is the way I want to feel when I marry the love of my life than blind marriage. _

_Baby Giyu looked so happy for his sister, but that happiness soon turned into terror. My heart dropped when demons came out of nowhere and started killing everyone they saw. People were frantic as they tried to escape. Young me was being pushed away from Baby Giyu as young me was crying. Young me didn't know what was going on, but all young me knew was that people were getting attacked as their flesh were being ripped off. _

_It hurts my heart to see this in my dream. _

_Young me was able to escape with the help of random people, and I never knew what happened to Baby Giyu. _

I gasped sharply, waking up in cold sweats. My body was trembling from the terrible dream. My dreams were never intense like the one I had now. I opened the window to cool myself down. I felt the icy breeze touch my moist skin. "It is him. He wouldn't have the same eyes of his sister and same hairstyle from his younger days either. Maybe he doesn't remember, but I do." I mumbled, staring out at the full moon.

The next morning, I didn't go farming, I wanted to find Giyu Tomioka. I ran around the area to find him or his friends. "Where are they?" I whispered, hoping luck will make them appear in front of me.

"It's Lady Chiba— Kirika!" I swiftly turned my head when I heard my name being called.

My eyes widened when I spotted the group. I ran over to them and briefly said hi to the rest before standing in front of Giyu Tomioka. I gulped when his stoic eyes stared down at me. "So you were alive after all these years." He looked so confused what I was talking about. "Your eyes are just like your _sister_," I could sense Giyu's body tensing up. "Do you really not remember me?" I didn't rip my eyes from his face. I knew deep down he was going to remember me…


	2. Chapter 2

With my long sleeves as my hands, I cupped his face. I want to see if I can make him remember. "Don't you remember? We were playing outside the ceremony at the courtyard, just waiting for your sister to get married. You were telling me how much you'll miss her—" Giyu moved out of my hands and walked away.

"I can't believe Giyu is getting the girls…!" Zenitsu cried in agony. "When's my girls coming in?"

"Giyu, you can't run from this!" I picked up the pace and started to follow him. "I thought you were dead after the attack." I had to push people to get out of my way. "You didn't know how sad I was. I had to move away from the area because there were nightly attacks." My eyes were swelling up from remembering how painful reality was. It was like my heart was shattering into small pieces. I almost caught up to him, "Why can't you face me?!" when I was about to reach for his sleeve, he disappeared right in front of my eyes. I closed my fist tightly and held back my tears. "Okay… I see," my chest was tight and painful from the rejection I didn't want to see.

I decided to go farming so I could forget the encounter with him. I was in the grain field smashing out the seeds.

"_When I grow up, I want to have my own store…"_ _little Giyu was looking at little Kirika as he told her about his future he wanted_

"_I want to travel around Japan with you,"_

"Ughh… Why am I remembering it right now?!" I was frustrated at my brain for having such bad timing.

I went on the day, sweating and taking out the grain with my anger. My face was drenched in sweat as I wiped it off with my sleeves.

"You're a strong one," the farmer said, drinking down water to refresh himself.

"Yeah I am for now. I had energy to smash it all," I walked over to get some water near a well. "I don't have much energy to do anything now ahaha. I'm very exhausted. I applaud you farmers for providing us crops every single day." Then I used the water to wash my face. "I'm going to head out before it gets dark,"

"Yeah, I don't want anything bad to happen to you so you go now."

After leaving the field, I traveled back home. My feet and back ached. I stood up and walked for six hours, and for my back, crouching made it ache. I took off my straw hat and fixed my hair. My fingers were running through my nasty hair as I tied it back from my sticky face. "I need a shower after this. My hair, face, and body is stained and nasty," I stretched my body as the distance from the farmland to home was getting bigger.

Entering in town, I debated if I wanted to eat home food or restaurant food. "Hmmmm, I'm craving restaurant food." I was so lucky that I brought money with me.

I went to the best place in town to get delicious food. I was immediately seated when I set foot in the place. I told the chef my order and waited for my food to come. I laid back against my seat and closed my eyes. My body was just so tired and my eyes felt sleepy too. "Gosh, I overworked myself…" I yawned, resting my head on the table until my food was ready.

"Lady Chiba, your dinner is here" the chef laid the dish right in front of me and I could smell the sweet aroma.

"It's Kirika!" I heard someone call my name when I was slurping my noodles. "Ah, I'm so glad to see you!" I was taken back by Zenitsu's hug.

"Zenitsu, I'm not clean! I just got back from the field!" I was all sorts of nasty on me.

"How dare you hug Lady Chiba and also use her first name?!" the chef was furious as he slammed his knife straight into the cutting board.

"I'm sorry about his behavior," Tanjiro chimed up nervously.

"It's fine. I actually know them, unlike other males I don't. Besides I can handle myself," I always hated how overrated I was. Whatever I do, everyone's always in the know, if I interact with someone, everyone will know. I felt like a target.

Everyone was seated around me, and the boys purposely made Giyu sit right next to me.

"You guys can eat whatever you want, I'll pay for it." I slurped my noodles, ignoring Giyu because I couldn't muster the courage to ask him again.

"No, Kirika, you shouldn't pay for our food," Tanjiro politely declined my offer.

"Tanjiro, if she wants to pay then let her pay! It's free food!" Inosuke roughly spoke, ordering whatever he desired to eat.

"Tanjiro," I looked at him. "Just eat. I'm pretty sure the travel was long. Eat what you want to eat," I sipped my cup of water and started choking violently when it slipped into the wrong tube in my throat.

"OH MY GOSH, SHE'S DYING!"

My back was roughly being handled as hands were hitting against my back so I would stop choking, but it hurt more than me choking on water. My face was really red from non-stop coughing. "Guy…! Stop hitting me!" I begged, feeling like they were going to cripple my back. "I only choked on water…" I coughed again. "I'm good now! Ahaha!" I laughed at myself choking.

As the boys were busy doing an eating contest, I forced myself to look at Giyu. My eyes couldn't help but start tearing up. "Giyu," I gulped, feeling my chest swelling up from anxiety. "N-never mind." I couldn't bring myself to say anything after what happened this morning. So I directed my attention to the boys, "Here's money." I gave them more than they expected. "I'm heading home because I had a long day, bye." I waved as I left the shop.

I couldn't stand it in the shop, sitting right next to him. I felt a wash of anxiety over me. "Maybe he doesn't want to talk to me, or… I don't know," I sighed heavily. I wanted to talk to him, but I felt too scared to. I didn't know if my heart could be rejected like the morning.

"Kirika,"

I stopped dead in my tracks when a soft voice called my name. "Giyu Tomioka," I rotated my head and stared at him. "I…" I didn't know what to say, I felt at a loss. "Just forget about what happened this morning. It seems like you don't even remember me, and that's okay—" My sentence was cut short.

Warm arms wrapped around my body and pulled me close to him. His body was trembling as he held his sobs back. My heart broke from hearing him being strong. "It's okay." I held him tight and rubbed his back. "I'm right here. You never lost me, Giyu." His breathing was shaky as he poured out his tears. "I'm sorry you went through tough times, but everything will get better." I slowly pulled back and cupped his stained cheeks with my sleeves covering my hands. "Right now, I want you to smile to me like you used to when we were younger. All I see now is a stoic man who's lost human touch," I used my thumbs to move his mouth upwards. "Come on, smileeeee, smileeeee!" I wanted him to be happy that I'm still alive. "You have to cherish what you have now before it's too late, okay? Your old childhood friend is here,"

"Yes," he said through his forced smile by my thumbs. His blue eyes were glistening from his tears.

"Tomorrow morning, tell your group to meet me under the white dogwood tree. There's some questions I'd like to ask you demon slayer corps," I said as I removed myself from him. "I'm going to head out now. I'll see you tomorrow! Goodbye," I smiled off.

I felt my heart at peace after somehow solving what happened in the morning. I guess he ran away because of some emotional reasons. I really wondered what he went through.

"My lady, you need to get ready for your arrangement!" I was being dragged out of my room as I clung onto my futon.

"I don't want to goooooo! I hate going! I hate matchmakers!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

The next thing I knew, I was already dressed up in a fancy pink kimono with my hair all dolled up. "Why is it always a matchmaker that has to find my spouse? You act like I can't find one at all," I rolled my eyes. I felt like a child being controlled because they don't want me to be happy.

"Because you're already twenty-one and single. Most girls are married at sixteen—"

"Well, I'm not like most girls! So I'm not going! I have other plans, thank you very much. I'm going to say this with my heart, but I think it's time for you to start fresh than spending your time around me. Today is when I let you go because I'm a grown woman," I got up and walked out of my house. I didn't know why I still had my handmaiden around me, maybe it's because I don't socialize a lot? Or it's because she was always there when growing up? I can't think about it right now.

I was struck by the sunlight as I got outside. "It's so bright…!" I squinted my eyes while I walked to the white dogwood tree in a secluded area.

"Lady Chiba, are you going to your matchmaker this morning?" A lady asked.

"No, I have other plans to be thinking about," I smiled and carried on my day until I spotted a mochi stand. "Ou! They would totally like it." I bought some mochi for the boys and myself, and finally went to my destination.

"There she is!" all heads were turned to me.

"And she looks amazing!" Zenitsu dragged his face down with his hands.

"Ahaha…" I chuckled. "Yeah, the daily routine where I might jump off the window because nobody cares for my happiness. It makes me sad honestly," I sat on the ground and pulled out a box of mochi. "Take some," I offered to the boys, shifting my annoyed thoughts to the food.

"So why'd you call us out here for?" Tanjiro asked, viewing his surroundings.

"It's a beautiful scenery filled with white dogwood trees, and it's the only place where you can have privacy. Your arrival caused my heart to be excited because we don't ever have 'travelers' or newcomers. It's always been the same people in this town. Tell me why you guys are here? Are there demons I should be aware of?" I chewed into my soft mochi and glanced at everyone.

"How'd you know?" One of them asked. They were shocked at how I knew.

"Of course it's obvious, it's your uniform. I have good eyes" I pointed. "Only people who hasn't witnessed a slayer at hand wouldn't know how they would dress like. For me, I've been saved by the corps like three times."

"This one is targeting young women. It killed many women from different towns and now their next destination is here." Giyu told me the information, and I had chills running down my spine.

"Wow… I guess I'm next!" I stood up on my feet. "It'd be such an honor if it happens to me because—" I was abruptly interrupted by an angry voice.

"Don't talk about getting killed by a demon!" Giyu's face was only inches away from mine. His eyes were enraged by my words. "You told me—"

I stuffed a mochi into his mouth, "Shush. I was being sarcastic, don't worry. You guys won't let anyone die on your watch, I know it. I'm going to head out again. You boys enjoy your stay until the demon arrives… Oh, I'm going to take Giyu out of your hands too!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him with me. I was going to see what changes happened in his life after our split.

"Soooo…." I looked over at him as my hands were behind my back. "What happened to you after the wedding?" I knew it might hurt him for opening up old wounds, but I was never there to make him feel better. I was out of the picture.

"I trained with Urokodaki Sakonji, a water pillar back then, after I was found. I befriended a boy named Sabito…" his eyes were wavering for some reason. "I trained with him…" Giyu's voice was cracking.

I stopped walking and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that question. You're hurting again."

"No it's fine, I can continue." His blue eyes looked at me, telling me that he'll be alright. "We both bonded quickly as we shared similar past. Before you can join the demon slayer corps, you have to pass the final selection where you slay demons and try to survive seven days…" Giyu told me the story of how he lost Sabito and how he doesn't feel like he should be a pillar.

"Hey, don't cry again," I shifted myself in front of him.

"I'm not," Giyu denied.

"Then why do I see a flood behind your waterline? I can clearly see it, don't lie to me." I used my long sleeve and pat his eyes dry. "You're a different person now. Your facial expression is indifferent. I remembered the old days where you did show much, but I can't blame you for not being able to. You lost so much as you grew up," I moved some of his hair away from his face and gently smiled at him.

"My life is really ass," I laughed, quickly changing the atmosphere. "After I escaped from the attack, I had to move to this place right here. Then somehow, I've gained popularity from my looks… I don't know how but I did. People are just overreacting; my looks are average like any others. My parents passed away two years ago, and my handmaiden has been by my side for a long time and is still taking care of me, but I let her go today. I don't know, Giyu, I don't desire to wed a stranger from a matchmaker. It's really annoying because I'm forced to hold back what makes me happy to please others, and that's not what I want. That's what's happening in my current situation…" I inhaled sharply, intertwining my fingers together. "It's crazy how grown we are. It seemed like it was yesterday when we were tiny kids, playing with each other because we were neighbors!" A smile appeared on my face when I thought about how close we were as kids.

"You ditched our arrangement for a man like him?!" A new voice came from a different direction.

I assumed it was the man I was supposed to see at the matchmaker. "I was going to say no anyways, so I don't get what's the big deal. Everybody knows I won't settle down, and yet you all still try to get with me. I think you need a check up from the doctor." I hissed, feeling my mood changed. I was filled with disgust because I never wanted to do arrangement every single day of my life.

"I won't take no rejection," Giyu moved in front of me as the man approached us, "as an answer! I'm going to—"

Instead of having Giyu protect me, I was going to show the man my stance, so I swiftly moved in front of Giyu and pulled out his sword. The sharp tip of the sword was right at the man's throat. "I choose whoever I'd like to marry and you're not one of them." I glared, moving my legs forward as the man was stepping backwards from the sword. "Get your head out of cloud nine and accept reality." My right hand that held the sword was shaking. The sword had a lot of weight to it, and I knew I was going to drop it any second now. "You better leave before I slice your throat. I'll show no mercy." I hoped my menacing eyes and voice was doing the job of making the man shit his pants.

"You crazy bitch," the man retraced his tracks and left, and it wasn't until I realized what he said.

"He didn't just call me that!" I lowered my arm to my side. "I can't believe it…" I was in disbelief as I turned to look at Giyu. "I'm… I'm going to fight him." My heart was racing from his insult. "I'm going to swing the sword at him!"

Giyu took his sword out of my hand. "You're not playing with swords." And he walked ahead of me.

"Well, if I can't use a sword, then I'm using a bow and arrow. I'm skilled at archery by the way…. Just like how you're a skilled swordsman." I tried to brag, but it seemed like Giyu didn't care much.

"And next time," he stopped his pace and look back at me, "don't be careless to whip out my sword. You can hurt yourself," Giyu sternly said, but he was only being concerned for me.

"Alright, alright. I can't promise you I won't hunt him down," My eyes shifted and narrows at him as I smiled evilly, before making a run for it. "You can't stop meeeee!"


	3. Chapter 3

"_I can't have you standing in my way." It was a tall, slim young woman whose eyes were lime green and hair was white as snow. "There can only be one who can surpass beauty, and I won't let you or any other women take it...even if you're human," the woman licked a long needle and walked closer to me as I watched her, and I felt the needle pierce underneath my right collar bone. I couldn't scream for help as the pain didn't subside until the lady disappeared. _

I gasped in the middle of the night, waking up from the scary dream I had. My heart was racing and I had to touch where the needle pierced, but I didn't feel no marking whatsoever. "Holy shit, that scared me. I won't be able to sleep…" I rubbed my eyes, trying to gather what happened in my dream, but I was also scared on the other hand. "I'll just try and sleep…"

When daylight broke, I woke up in my quiet house where my handmaiden was let go. "This house never felt so lonely…" I stared at the sliding door where she would come barging in and yap about my agenda. "Well, it's time to get ready for a new day— Ack!" I felt a small pain in my chest. "I'll be okay…" I didn't want to think about the dream because I knew it wasn't real.

I got myself dressed and went to the kitchen to cook food for myself. As I was cutting vegetables, my head started to feel dizzy and my legs were light. I was trying hard to focus on my balance than giving in to my dizziness, but no matter how much I tried, I left myself fall to the ground in cold sweat. The world was spinning and I couldn't move an inch of my body, it felt like I was frozen in ice. It didn't help that my body felt so drenched in cold sweat. "I need…to get up…!" I told myself as I tried to roll over to my side and get up.

"Someone's bleeding! It smells human and it's coming from this house…"

I heard a voice that sounded like Tanjiro, but I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating at this point. "I'm someone who's bleeding?" I sounded so confused on what was going on. I think I was hearing things.

"I heard a voice! It sounded like… Kirika!"

At this point, I knew I couldn't move an inch of my body and the boys already barged inside my house.

I heard shuffling footsteps until I felt someone pulled me up. "Kirika, are you okay?" Giyu was staring at me with his indifferent facial expression, but deep down he was worried.

"Yeah… I guess I lost my balance from moving too fast," I lied to them. I didn't think telling them about my dream would do anything since it's just a dream, but my mind was gravitating towards it due to chest pain and cold sweat.

"You cut your finger." Inosuke pointed and I lifted my arm to see I did cut it.

"Ahah… Silly me," I didn't feel like I was in the right state of mind.

"Let me bandage it for you," Tanjiro wrapped a cloth around my finger, and Giyu helped me get up.

I used Giyu as my support so I couldn't loose foot again. "I was making food until I fell… How was your day?" I shifted the conversation.

"We've gotten a trace of the demon, but it hasn't shown up yet." Tanjiro informed me. "But besides that, what were you cooking?" he looked over at the chopped vegetables.

"I was going to make stew," I simply replied.

"Oh, I can help you. I know how to make it!" Tanjiro's eyes were sparkling. "And plus, you treated us with so many things, it's our turn to return the favor."

"Kirika, you should rest. You look pale," Zenitsu ushered me out of the kitchen and into my room. "Giyu, put her to bed and keep an eye on her. We'll take care of the food!" Zenitsu slammed the door shut.

"Geez, kicking me into my room and you guys just came in, that's rude." I crawled to my bed and wrapped myself up. "You know, this reminds me of the time when I had to stay over at your place when my parents went traveling for an event, and that night it was thundering so bad that I got scared and slept the night in your room. Remembering it now makes me feel embarrassed,"

"You wouldn't stop crying for your parents," Giyu chuckled, as his face changed for the first time.

I quickly got up from my futon and crawled to him, peering in front of his eyes. "Woahhhh! Did Giyu's face changed from a stoic expression into an amused expression?! This is incredible!"

His large hand was pushing against my face. "Go back to bed,"

I used both of my hands to grab his large hand and hold it in place before I made a special move. "Why should I? I'm fine now."

"If you're fine now, then why does your forehead feel cold than warm?"

"Because," I used one of my hand to jab his armpit. "I don't know."

Giyu succumb to the jab and I got on my feet and was about to run, but he rapidly tug my right foot and pulled me down, causing me to slip and fall. "You're not okay, you need to rest." I laid flat on the ground and he pulled my leg toward him and rolled me over to my futon.

"I could've broken my jaw," I stared at the ceiling as I told him. I did feel an aching pain, but it didn't hurt that much.

"You shouldn't have jabbed me in the first place." Giyu calmly stated, staring down at me.

"Go check if the stew is ready. I'll be in bed…waiting because someone doesn't want me out…" I dramatically sighed, turning my head away from Giyu. "Go, Childhood Friend, get me some food."

When the stew was ready, I was sitting with the others in the living room.

"Wow, who seasoned it?" I asked, taking many bites.

"I did!" Tanjiro smiled. "I have a good sense of smell."

"You live so luxurious," Inosuke said. "I roamed around your house to see what you guys had, and you guys had a lot of good things." He gobbled down three servings.

"Yeah, I know. I need to get rid of it. It's irrelevant stuff I don't need."

I felt something tickle in my throat, I could tell it was going to be a cough, so I let it out in my elbow.

"Kirika… Are you okay? Your sleeve is covered in blood."

I stared at the blood that came out from my mouth. I was stunned in horror because of what was on my mind. "Yeah… yeah I'm fine…" I didn't dare to look at them. "I'm going to be right back." I excused myself and walked outside to wash out my mouth.

The cold water touched every surface of my mouth to cleanse it from blood. "But it was only a dream…" I whispered to myself, unconsciously touching where the needle pierced me in my dream, and there it was the mark I was worried for. "Shit…" grazing it over my fingers, it felt like a small bump. I had a scary feeling that it might grow.

I ran back inside the house to gain some answers from the demon slayers. "Hey, how did the demon killed their prey?"

"You're very anxious," Tanjiro was very concerned about my wellbeing.

"Answer my question." I demanded.

"According to examinations, it seemed like poison killed them. It would form a bump and—"

"Okay I got it. I'm leaving," I couldn't look at them in the eyes.

"Kirika!"

Something was wrong, and it all started off with that nightmare. I thought it was only a dream because when I dream, I can barely do anything. "Ah!" I was having chest pain again, but this time it was sharper. "Shit!" I clutched onto my fabric.

"Lady Chiba, are you okay?" someone asked

"You don't look too well, Lady Chiba."

I kept hearing my name being echoed as my chest pain increased and my head was getting disoriented. My mind was splitting into two than focusing on one thing. My eyes were soaring around, seeing everything getting blurry. Another tickling feeling was rising in my throat again. I knew I couldn't cough it out. I shouldn't have ran outside my house.

"Kirika!"

Instead of having blood spur out of my mouth, I blacked out and collapsed on the ground.

"Is she the only one who got targeted?"

"Maybe so, because I asked others about it and they said their daughters are fine."

"How wasn't I able to sniff the demon out?"

There were too many voices talking when I woke up. My body was heavy and tired, my breathing was tough, and my chest was killing me. "Hey…" I quietly called out, tapping the ground for them to hear me. "I need to tell you something…" I told them about the dream I had and they soon figured out how it happened.

My eyes shifted slowly to the other side as I breathed tiredly. I've never felt so exhausted and heavy from anything in my life. The irony of wanting to be free is now turning its back on me. I tried to steady my breathing and concentrate on looking at somewhere else.

The sun was setting and I knew it was coming for me. I didn't feel cold or hot, my body was neutral. There was a throbbing sensation under my collar bone. It was the only thing I felt occurring in my body as I laid.

"We all can't watch over her, we also need to see if the demon targeted other women too. I'll let Nezuko stay with her."

Their conversation made my head hazier than before. I wanted to sleep as the dark sky was coming up.

"Kirika, I'm leaving my box here. You'll be protected if anything happens," Tanjiro left his box right next to me and ran off with the others, but Giyu didn't move, he stared back at me.

"Go," I flicked my hand, motioning him to leave. "I'll be okay… I promise you that I will not be leaving so soon. Pinky promise?" I lifted my trembling pinky and he came over to hook his larger pinky around my smaller pinky. "You have a town to save. I wish you luck!" I smiled despite the pain hitting my chest at the moment.

Once it was dead silent, I didn't know what to think. I couldn't move a limb, but all I could do was think about how the demon was going to come after me. I rotated my head and looked at the wooden box. "So you must be Nezuko…" In my condition, I didn't really think much about opening the box or what was inside. I wasn't scared to, not as much as the demon hunting me. I pulled the handle to see a tiny girl sleeping in there. I noticed her skin was pale as the dead and her nails were sharp like lions. "I wondered why they closed your mouth?" I had the courage to pull her out of the box and laid her right next to me. She looked so cute as she slept. "Ack!" I winced in pain, curling myself up into a ball. I felt it spreading throughout my body.

"Mm?"

I forced my eyes to open through the agonizing pain. I saw Nezuko looking at me with innocence in her pink eyes. I extended my hand out to her and touched her cheek. "I… could've had so many siblings." Out of six pregnancies from my mother, I was the child who made it through adulthood. The rest either miscarried, born premature, or didn't survive a few days after birth. I was the lucky one.

Then I started throwing up blood violently. My body was up as more blood kept flowing out of my mouth like a waterfall. The chest pain tightened and it was getting harder to breathe.

"Grrrr…!" my eyes flickered up to see Nezuko growling and her eyes alerted.

"Poor thing, I was hoping you could withstand it. I wanted to see you in so much pain as I took the life out of you. What a shame..." It was the demon's voice from my dream which could mean she was there in reality, but she was able to make it seem harmless.

My head couldn't move due to whatever she injected into my body.

"I'm making you suffer differently." I heard her feet touching the ground lightly, and Nezuko shifted herself in front of me. "Your body is going to shut down and— AGH!" The lady screamed.

I collapsed on my side and saw that the lady's head was kicked into.

"You wretched demon girl!" The lady yelled at the top of her lungs, piercing my ears as it bled a bit.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I was scooped into Giyu's arms. He was jumping from roof to roof, but I was confused about how he even got me. What I remembered was that I was still on the ground, suffering from pain and Nezuko kicked the demon lady.

"Don't speak," Giyu hushed me. "I don't need you to strain yourself, or else your condition will worsen. I'm taking you where you're far away from your house." When I looked at him, it seemed like nothing fazed him at all.

My eyelids were heavy and I was going to black out any second now, until I saw the shadowy figure of the lady. "Behind you…!" I tried to shout, but Giyu was already in the know and he jumped off and landed on the ground.

"Sorry, we couldn't hold her back from chasing after you!"

"Zenitsu, take her far away from here. If you can, use your speed and save her life at _you-know-where_," Giyu handed me over to Zenitsu. "Promise me, you'll be alive when I'm back." I simply nodded my head in response, and Giyu turned his back on me and faced the demon.

"Kirika, I swear on my life I'll keep you safe. I'm taking you to a place where you will be healed."

My body was losing touch to everything about me. I could no longer feel the cold night air. "I…can't feel…anything…" my eyes rolled down to sleep. I had a feeling I wouldn't make it through. The poison spreading in my body was thick, and I knew it from my sensitivity. "I can't…do it," my words were breathy and labored.

"Kirika! Listen to my voice…" I could feel him panicking from fright. "Giyu wouldn't want you to die! Do it for him and your future!" no matter how much Zenitsu tried to talk, I was slipping away.


	4. Chapter 4

My eyes flickered open from sunlight hitting my face. "I'm alive?" I was in a room with many beds. I was so focused on where I was, I didn't notice a girl staring at me.

"So you're awake now," it was a girl who wore a butterfly clip.

"Are you sure I'm not dead? I had a good feeling I was…" I rubbed my eyes and stretched my body.

"You were very lucky you didn't die, and it was also the help of Zenitsu who brought you here. I've managed to drain most of the poison out of your body before it could shut down. But in order to make sure you've completely recovered, you have to take medication." She was telling me the medication I had to use and when I should use it.

"Okay, thank you very much for saving me." I pleasantly smiled at her. If it wasn't this place, I would for sure die. "Oh, where am I exactly?"

"You're at the Butterfly Estate, and I'm Aoi. If you need anything just call me or anyone around you," Aoi left the room, so I decided to roam around the estate.

"Wow, the back looks nice." I peeked through the window. It was bright and nice outside with no gray sky, I loved it. "I guess something interesting did happen in my life…. Almost died, but was it not worth seeing this beautiful place? Maybe," I laughed at myself.

I heard people training in a room, so I quickly peer at the opened door to see Inosuke, Tanjiro, and Zenitsu training. I didn't want to disturb them because they were training hard, so I walked away.

Roaming around the halls, I heard two people talking. One was a high pitch voice, sounding like a woman and the other sounded like Giyu. I didn't know if I should've interrupted the conversation or waited, but I wouldn't know how long they would be talking for and I wanted to surprise Giyu. "Come on, Kirika." I mustered up the courage to open the door. "Sorry to interrupt…" when I slid the door, I wished I didn't witness the scene. It was a girl who wore the demon slayer corps uniform was on top of Giyu as if they were wrestling, or being intimate. "And I oop—" I slammed the door and ran off.

I felt so embarrassed to find out the weirdest way that Giyu was dating. "I'm going to kill myself…" My face was hot from the awkward position they had. "I need to purify my eyes!" I ran off to who knows where, I needed space to think.

I was somewhere deep in the forest shooting arrows at a tree trunk. "Ouh…" I had a sudden realization. "I can't be close to him anymore. He has someone now. I'm not a homewrecker…" I felt disgusted with myself for my interactions with him.

"Kirika, that's where you are. People were worrying about you, especially _Giyu,_" my body tensed up. "And Shinobu." Inosuke emerged out of the shadows.

"Who's Shinobu?" I asked and Inosuke described to me who Shinobu was. "Ohhhh okay," my mind suddenly went back to the incident. "So that's Shinobu. Lucky for her…" My chest felt weird. I knew I couldn't be close with him and that what hurt me the most because time drifted us apart. "As long as he's happy that all that matters. If she can shoulder his sorrows then that's even better…" I've never felt so empty in my chest when I thought about losing a childhood friend again.

"What'd you say? Speak louder!"

"AHAHA!" I puffed up my chest and stared cockily at him. "Battle me in archery. Whoever kills the most birds in the sky wins, and I guess if you want a prize..." I was thinking about what would suit Inosuke since he's rowdy. "Then you can take whatever is at my house!" I boldly declared, smirking at him. I really needed to get Giyu and Shinobu out of my brain.

"Oh you're on!" Inosuke was pumped and energized by my offer.

Inosuke and I were battling it off as we shot down many flying birds as we saw. "Inosuke, you can't gain the upper hand. I'm a skilled archer, but I may be wrong… But we shall see our results." My heart was pumping in excitement as I was higher than Inosuke by three shots.

I pulled back my elbow, letting tension build up in the string and I let loose of the arrow as it flew up in the air, striking down birds and birds. On the other hand, Inosuke was okay with the bow and arrow. He was struggling as his let his frustration get to him.

"I can't do this crap! I'd rather attack with my sword!" Inosuke grumbled as he missed his prey.

"You have to be calm. This takes a lot of concentration like any other weapon you use. If you let your irritation get the best of you, you miss." I released the arrow and I hit another bird.

At some time we both were out of arrows. "Your arrows done?" I looked over at him.

"Yeah…" Inosuke was shaking as he fell in defeat.

"You can still keep whatever you want inside my house. I don't care really. Let's also get our birds. No need to count because you already know who won!" I had my own mini celebration for myself because it felt good to win. I considered myself a competitive person if I put my heart into it, or I try at least.

We disbursed and we looked for our birds we killed. "Let's tie them together with this rope," I suggested the easier way than having our hands full.

"I hate you…" Inosuke murmured.

"Just because I won half your total? Now before me." I laughed jokingly. "Maybe I should've done this for a living. Have an archery battle and win money…. It would be the dream!"

"I forgot you were even injured." Inosuke sounded so confused then shocked.

"Yeah, same here. I don't know if I should've overworked myself by this competition." Now I started to get confused about what I should and shouldn't do since I was still in the process of healing.

"You're on your own." Then Inosuke started to run ahead of me.

"Hey, just because you're all healthy and fine doesn't mean you can leave me behind!" I tried my best to catch up.

"Where did you guys go?" Tanjiro and Zenitsu looked at me and Inosuke.

"I was shooting arrows, then Inosuke crossed path with me so we battled it out with an archery competition. I won of course," I showed them how many birds I killed.

"It would've been scary if they killed our messenger birds…" the two boys looked at each other in sheer fear.

"We're eating birds tonight!" I left the room and strolled my way to the kitchen, but my jolly moment died when the hashira woman came out from the corner of the hallway.

"You must be Kirika Chiba! It's a pleasure to meet you," she extended her hand out to shake mine but I had my hands full with birds. "Oh? You went hunting?" she noticed the birds at hand.

My heart accelerated for no reason. "Yeah…!" I slightly felt awkward from the scene replaying in my head. I didn't want to bring it up, I wanted to forget about it, or try to at least. "I was out in the forest," I smiled through my transparent nervousness.

"I'm Shinobu Kocho, if you didn't know. I'll be taking my leave since you look busy. I'll catch you around," Shinobu waves off and left me alone.

In the kitchen, I twisted my hair into a bun and tied a white cloth around my head, and wore a white smock to prevent any staining on my attire. I started off by boiling half of the chicken into a pot and waited until it was done before I could pluck off the feathers. Doing the small task, I felt sweaty due to the heated room of the fire burning underneath the boiling pot. "Cooking is tiring even though I didn't do anything," I wiped off my sweat forming on my forehead.

After boiling and plucking, I gutted the inside. "I don't know if I did this wrong or right." I was confused if I should've gutted then boiled, but I already boiled it so I couldn't reverse the steps.

"Kirika, are you in here?" I quickly turned my head back to see Aoi was searching for me.

"Yes, I am. I'm busy cooking so if it's urgent tell me now," I shouted through my slicing and ripping.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just wondering." Aoi left the kitchen.

When the gutting was over, I chopped the birds into pieces by their joints. The kitchen was filled with chopping noises as I concentrated on making it even. Soon after chopping through twenty birds, I threw it into the hot water.

"Oh! I wonder if they have any herbs." I looked around the kitchen to see if any herbs lie in the open, but none were visible. "I wonder if they have a garden?" I hastily left the room and checked both ends of the hall if I saw any staff out but they weren't present when I needed them.

I jogged out, looking around my area to find any staff, but instead I saw Giyu walking from the end of the hall. I composed myself when we made eye contact for a split second before running off.

"Aoi!" I called, literally running in the halls, because I had a feeling that Giyu was maybe chasing after me due to me not saying a word to him for this whole day

"Yes?" Aoi peered out of the corner, and I told her what I needed. "Yeah we have a garden. I'll show you." I followed her as I was shown a big garden.

"Wow! This is amazing!" the garden was huge. "I bet it has everything," I started to pick out whatever I saw that would be good with chopped birds.

"Kirika," I heard my name being called in a soft voice.

"Yeah," I looked over my shoulder and saw Giyu. My heart was in panic mode. "Is there something you need? Because if it isn't urgent then you can tell me later. I'm kinda busy cooking right now, so…" I was really trying to make him leave me alone because I wasn't going to talk to him.

"Oh, in that case, I'll tell you later then." His footsteps faded as I continued to pick out herbs and some vegetables.

I ran back inside the kitchen, cleaning off dirt and chopping it into the pot. I was breaking into many sweat from being in the room. It felt like a sauna.

"Mom?"

I was confused about who was calling me 'mom'. I wasn't that young or old to be a mother yet, and I didn't have a husband to be called 'mom' too. "Who are you calling 'mom'?" I stared at the person who called me.

"Oh!" It was Tanjiro. He looked taken back as if his past was running through his eyes. "Sorry, you looked like my mom with the hair covering and smock." He apologized and I started to feel down because there was a little sadness lingering in his eyes.

"What's wrong? You can tell me anything," I ushered him inside the kitchen for a talk.

"No it's okay! You're cooking and I don't want the food to taste bad if you're sad because of me. Food tastes better if it's filled with love and happiness," Tanjiro was trying to find a way to back out, but I wouldn't let him go so easily.

"You will be sad if you ate all the love and happiness without feeling the emotions I poured into it." I didn't pour no love or happiness, I poured my sinful memory into it so I could forget.

Tanjiro briefly told me about his family and that his sister was a demon. "From the back, it looked like a split image of my mom that's really it."

"It's okay. At first, I thought you were insulting me because I'm unmarried. Besides that, food is ready and gather everyone."

I took my bowl first and ate inside my room than the dining area. I wasn't feeling like being in the room with the two people. "Wow, they would be a great couple." I thought more about it because I couldn't let it go. No matter how much I tried to be distracted, I couldn't let the feeling and thought go of losing him. "Kirika, you need to chill. It's been years and you should be happy for them. They're cute or whatever. She's beautiful for him, they're like two worlds collide. That's great.. that's cool! That's good! Now I need to shut up and eat."

I left my finished bowl in the room and I snuggled myself in bed. I was going to try and sleep it away. I wanted to forget about it by tomorrow, if not then I'm leaving the estate for my own mentality.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, I woke up, took my medicine, and got ready for the day. I braided the front part of my hair to open up my face, as the rest of my hair flowed down my back.

"Kirika," Aoi called me. "Did you take your medicine like you were told?"

"Yes, I did. I'm trying to recover, not re-live the suffering again. I'm going to garden since I have nothing else to do." I skipped out of the room and into the hallways. I was in a good mood. My heart was at peace, my mind was calm. I was feeling really good about this day.

"Hey," my hand was suddenly pulled back by none other than Giyu. "You've been ignoring me all day."

Remembering the scene playing through my mind, I yanked my hand from him. I felt more guarded lately. "Well, I've been busy…and I was thinking about a lot of things." I stepped back to give me and him space. "I'm stuck in the past and I should let it go because we're not the same people. I'm embarrassed that you never told me you had someone." My voice started to get cracky and dry due to my personal reasons. "And I think I shouldn't be close to you anymore," I took a bigger step back. "We should limit our interactions…." And another big step I took back as I was trying to make my exit. "Go talk to your…" my eyes started to get hot from saying the word. "Go to her." I twisted on my heels and walked off with my head hanging low.

Small tears streamed down my face and I patted my eyes dry. "Geez, I didn't think it would be that hard to break it off." I was hurting a bit, to know that maybe I shouldn't have known my childhood friend was alive or not.

At the garden, I picked out the ripened fruits and vegetables into a basket. I didn't want to be in the estate anymore, I wanted to leave and start fresh.

"_I'll always protect you, Kirika! I will fight anyone who will bring harm to you or your family!" _

I started to cry a bit when I recalled the past when young Giyu would ramble about things of our future, as if we would still be close. "Shit, I need to stop being a crybaby and stop thinking about the past. It's the present time now. The past is gone," I stood up, shaking my legs from squatting for a long time.

"Kirika, we need to talk." My heart stopped beating for a second. I didn't want to face the person who wanted to talk to me. I knew damn well it was Giyu but I wasn't ready to see him at this moment.

"I… I don't want to talk to you right now. Go talk to Shinobu." I continued to do my job despite my eyes making it harder to see through the cloudy tears forming. It hurts me to say that to him. "Please just go. I want to be alone." I raised my voice for him to see I was serious about my words.

"...fine," it took him awhile to form any words out. The struggle in his voice shaking was because of me.

"I can't stay here," I muttered to myself, finishing up gardening and harvesting.

After that, I tried my best to avoid anyone in the halls. I didn't want to see people. I wanted to be by myself. I went to my room and started to write my notice. I brought nothing, so I had nothing to bring with me when I leave.

"_To whom is reading this:_

_Don't worry about my whereabouts. I'll be fine. Thank you Shinobu for taking me in, thank you Aoi for taking care of me, thank you Zenitsu for saving me, and thank you for the rest for protecting my town and future victims. _

_And if you're reading this, I would probably be far now. I don't know where I would be, but I'll be okay. _

_Yours truly,_

_Kirika Chiba"_

I inhaled and exhaled deeply to control my tears from falling. I was doing this for my own personal issues. I gently folded the letter, putting it underneath my pillow I slept on.

I stared at the window and I knew it was this time where the three boys were training and Giyu wasn't around, so it was a perfect time to leave without anyone stopping me. I poked my head in the hallway to see it dead, it was my cue to leave. When I did encounter staffs, I smiled and moved along with my day without making me seem suspicious.

I was able to get outside the estate without any complication. I didn't look back; I kept my head forward.

"Kirika!"

"Oh shit, he found out too quickly." I muttered, quickening my speed.

"You think you can get away with this letter without us even knowing? Everyone knew something was off until a letter was spotted under your pillow." Giyu's voice was loud and clear as he was chasing behind me.

Hearing him speak made my eyes watery again. "I'm having a personal crisis. Go back to Shinobu! Stop following me!"

"Why is Shinobu's name always in our conversation? She has nothing to do with this."

"Don't speak of 'this', so lightly as if it isn't crystal clear." I quoted with my fingers. "You…" my voice cracked. "You have a great life ahead of you! I don't want to be in the picture anymore. Gosh I should stop being curious, maybe I wouldn't be in so much pain? Ughhh! I don't even know why I'm even feeling this way." Hot tears rolled down on my face, as I wanted to rip out my hair from my head. "Shit," I used my sleeves to wipe my sorrowful tears away.

"Dammit Kirika, just look at me!" Giyu finally caught up to me and forcefully turned me around, but I couldn't let him see my red eyes. I used my hands to cover his eyes from seeing me in a worse state.

"Don't look at me." My voice was very shaky. "I'll tell you straight and clear about my thoughts without running away." I took a deep breath before telling him. "I wished you told me about her at the beginning. It's taboo to engage any talks with a taken man—"

"What are you talking about?"

"Shhhh! I'm not done yet. I told myself that I will be happy if she can shoulder all your sorrows and bad times, like it's great of you to find a beautiful girl like her." More tears formed in my eyes and dropped to the ground. I couldn't hide the fact that I was crying through my tough sniffing. "I don't know why you keep coming to me when you have someone like her, because I'm pretty sure she'd be jealous right now if she knew where you were, and—" Giyu removed my hands covering his eyes and clamped my mouth shut for him to interrupt.

"Who's this girl you're talking about?"

I blinked so slow, as I stared at him in confusion and moved his hands down. "When did you get so dense? You clearly said her name and I told you the reason why. It's Shinobu… That's the girl I'm talking about… Don't you remember when she was on top of you when I opened the door? I ran off?" I tried to make him recall.

"You've got it all wrong. I don't know why you're crying." It seemed like Giyu didn't understand the situation at all. My explanations went to one ear and never came out the other ear.

"No, _you've _got it wrong!" I pressed my index finger into his chest. I didn't care if he saw how bad my eyes were because I was so confused about his thinking. "You clearly didn't understand my words and comprehending the situation. To me, it was plain and simple. Maybe Shinobu could tell too when I encountered her." I felt more vexed and confused than sad.

"Why would I want to date Shinobu?" Giyu said it in a distasteful manner, like her being his partner would be the end of the world.

"I don't know, why would you? I'm not you. And to answer your second question, the reason why I'm crying is because I felt stupid during that situation, thinking you guys were together. I thought about the last few days where we were just interacting casually, and how close we were because you cried on me, I almost died, we talked about our past, and all that other stuff. I felt disgusted with myself that's why I distanced myself from you. Do you finally get what I'm talking about?" I knew I said a mouthful of words, but I was speaking from my part of the misunderstood story.

"If you felt that way, then what do you think I felt when you pushed me away? I felt hurt because you already know I lost two important people in my life, and if I had distanced yourself from me, I wouldn't know what to do. Losing a childhood friend would pain me so much, it's like an equivalent to losing my sister or Sabito." His words touched my heart because it showed that he cared so much for our friendship, and to know that I was being a dumbass who jumped to conclusions.

"Same goes for me." I patted my dried, heavy eyes. "But I'm not staying, I'm leaving still. You can do what your heart desires because— Hey! Don't carry me off!" I yelled, swinging my arms and legs. Giyu swung me over his shoulder and walked back to the estate. "Let me down! This is not what I meant," I cried out loud.

"I'm doing this for your own health, that's what my heart and mind is telling me. You're not fully recovered, you're straining yourself." Giyu carried me back to the estate and strapped me into bed, tying ropes over the blanket and under the bed stand.

"You're crazy!" I couldn't move an inch of my body at all. I felt more stressed than I ever did.

"I'm wanting you to rest well. I'll stay here until you get better." Giyu dragged a chair right next to my bed and sat there staring at me.

"This is so not creepy…" I heavily sighed, knowing I can't do much about him.


	6. Chapter 6

When I woke up from my slumber, Giyu was sleeping in his chair. "Giyu," I called out to him since I was strapped down. I didn't like how his body was slumped than laying flat. It was going to mess up his posture.

He didn't respond.

"Giyu," I called out again, waiting for him to hear my voice, but it seemed like he was too deep into sleep to hear me. "Aoi, can you come here?" Aoi walked into the room and stifled her laughter as she saw my situation. "Can you cut the rope? I'm not trying to lay in bed all day."

"Pff. Sure thing." Aoi used a sharp object and sliced the rope, causing it to loosen around my body. "I can't believe he went to the extreme and tied you down. I've never seen anything like that in my life," she walked out, giving me space with Giyu.

Once I threw off the ropes, I jumped over to Giyu's side and tried to move him. I hooked my arms underneath his and tried to lift him up without throwing my back out the window. "Mmm!" I grunted, incapable of lifting him. Giyu weighted a lot for my small frame. "Gosh, why'd you have to be so difficult…" I cried to myself. Giyu was softly breathing as my movements didn't disturb him at all. I was surprised that he was a heavy sleeper. I thought he'd be a light sleeper since he's in the demon slayer corps.

This time I tried a different method of taking him. Since Giyu was close to my bed, I was going to push him little by little than picking him up. Scooting the chair over to my bed, I pushed his whole body forward, then lifted up his legs onto the bed, and using most of the strength to roll him in the middle without making him fall off. "Ooo gosh…" I sat down on the chair. I was breaking a small sweat from my forehead. It was a workout to even put him into bed.

"Hello Kirika," it was Shinobu who poked her head through the doorway. "I was wondering if you were available to walk with me to a village and get some food to bring back to the estate." Her gentle smile made me feel obligated to go.

"Yeah, I'll be happy to help."

Shinobu gave me a new lavender kimono to wear as my hair was in a rope braid bun with flowers decorating it.

"Let's go," Shinobu happily smiled as she skipped in front of me.

On the way there, Shinobu broke the awkward silence. "So are you and Giyu lovers?"

"Whaaaaaat?" my face turned red. I couldn't believe that she mistaken us as lovers. "No, you've got it wrong! We're just good childhood friends and nothing more than that. I thought you and Giyu were dating because of what I witnessed." I told her the embarrassing assumption I made when it happened, and she laughed so hard at me. Shinobu stopped walking so she could catch some air and crack up again.

"I would never," Shinobu wiped her tears out of her laughing eyes. "I tease him a lot for not having friends, but I wouldn't go that far with him. That's a no-no." She was trying to control her breathing as she calmed herself from something so great to laugh at.

"Giyu doesn't have friends?" I thought back to when Giyu was with Tanjiro and them. They were friends indeed. "He does have friends! His friends are Tanjiro and them plus me."

"You're more than a friend of Giyu, you're going to be his lover soon." Shinobu winked. "I didn't think he would settle down so soon! In a few months coming I'm hoping to see a new Water Pillar heir." Now she started to tease me since she didn't have Giyu.

I looked down at my stomach and then back to her. "I don't think me and him will become lovers. That's totally impossible! Giyu for sure will marry someone intelligent, beautiful, strong, and talented." I didn't try to think about his future because that would feel weird.

"Kirika, you're describing yourself. Look around you," she pointed at people we walked past. "Men are staring at you with googling eyes. You're attractive. How can Giyu not be attracted to you?"

"I hate the attention because of beauty. I feel like a trophy to win. My life was like that before I came here. I was a desirable girl to have and keep safe…" when I thought back about it, disgust ran down my spine. "That's not what I wanted back in my hometown." I blabbered about my interest and started talking to her casually.

As soon as we arrived to the village, it was very crowded. There was barely a spot where it was not empty. Shinobu and I had to squeeze through people to get to stalls. Crowded places made me really uncomfortable due to close proximity, because like every other people, I didn't like being touched by strangers whether it was by accident or not. Yet, I wasn't lucky enough to avoid those. Hand prints were marking over my lower half, and I felt disgusted and annoyed.

"Shinobu," I linked arms with her. "Can we go quickly? I hate this place. It's too crowded and people are in my personal bubble. I'm uncomfortable," I looked around to protect myself from foreign touches.

"If they touch you, I will poison them like how I do it with demons." Shinobu's eyes had a threat to them, she was serious.

"Thanks,"

A new wave of people entered the village, as people were running into me and Shinobu's linked arms. I wasn't sure if I was paranoid or not, but I kept hearing whispering about me like I was a targeted person that's why things are trying to keep me and Shinobu apart.

"Are we done yet, Shinobu?" my heart was accelerating from the constant stares and whispering around me. I clung onto her like a leech to a human. I didn't want to let go because I fear the worse if one finger slipped.

"What's wrong?" Shinobu whispered in my ear, as she kept a calm expression buying food from vendors.

"I'm getting paranoid from eyes looking at me from every direction. I feel uncomfortable… I hate it." I kept myself alerted, feeling everything around me like a bug on my kimono.

Then a huge crowd of new people came flooding in, and forcefully pushing me and Shinobu apart. "Shinobu!" I screamed, having my hand in the air as so many people were being pushed. I was scared to get trampled by the crowd, but I was more scared of being separated from Shinobu than ever.

I was so distracted by my surroundings that I didn't feel a bad presence pulling me to the side. "I finally got you alone," a pair of heavy hands were on my shoulders. I froze up from my biggest fear this whole time. "You'd be a great prize," the grotesque voice whispered into my ear causing chills to run down my spine.

"You're freaking gross!" I mustered up the courage to elbow the man in the ribs and ran off. "Shinobu!" I screamed in sheer fear and panic. I kept looking back to see if I was being chased down or not. "Shinobu! Where are you?!" I was so afraid. My heart was beating rapidly as I pushed people away from me.

"Go find her!" the man was loud enough to be heard in the noisy crowd.

My frame wasn't strong like Shinobu or Giyu, I was a weak person towards combat. My thoughts were interrupted, "Kirika, behind me!" the voice wasn't Shinobu but Giyu.

"Giyu?!" I was surprised to see him. The last time I saw him was when he was sleeping. Then my eyes shifted to see Tanjiro, "Tanjiro, you're here too?" I didn't expect Giyu to bring Tanjiro with him.

"Yes," Tanjiro moved behind me. "Giyu couldn't find you in the estate so he asked me to track your scent, to which it led us here." Tanjiro said, readily holding the handle of his sword because we were immediately surrounded by a large group of men.

"Shinobu was with me, but unfortunately, we were separated...either on purpose or accidental." I informed the two who were protecting me. "I'm sorry," I gripped onto Giyu's haori and apologized. I felt like a hassle for everyone. "I wished I didn't look like this either…" I felt ashamed of how beauty can hurt people around me.

"Move aside and give me the lady, that's all I ask of you. My men won't fight you if you comply," the leader emerged out from his group and stood in front of Giyu, smirking at him. It was two against more than ten.

But me on the other hand felt so sick to my stomach. I hated this. I hated the attention. I wanted to make my face so unrecognizable to where I won't be stared at for what I wear or do to myself. "Being beautiful is a curse…" I whispered under my breath, hating myself for looking like this.

"From above!" it was Shinobu's voice as it came from the sky. Everyone looked up to see her dropping, as she landed right next to Tanjiro. "I'm sorry to drag you along with me. If I knew this would've happened, I wouldn't have brought you here." Shinobu sincerely apologized to me, causing so much ruckus for everyone.

"Give me the lady, or—" I couldn't stand it. Nasty men like him boiled my blood so much that I wanted to beat the shit out of him. It also didn't help that I'm not really capable to fight people off too.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up about it!" I didn't coward behind Giyu anymore, I stood right in front of the vile man.

"Kirika, get back." Giyu sternly said, tugging my arm back but I wouldn't budge. I didn't want to hide behind Giyu. I was sick and tired of being the cause.

"I will not stand by a so-called 'man' like you as you view women as objects." I ripped my arm from Giyu's grip. "You are no emperor, you are no man, you are _nothing_. You are a _joke_ to think that you will get your ways; only kids are able to get what they want." I was fuming in so much anger that I would explode from where I stood. I felt like strangling the leader in front of me.

"Very funny. I'm being scolded by a woman," He looked at his group and started laughing.

"I wasn't done talking," I took a few steps in front of him and grabbed his hand. "If," my hands were crawling up to his bicep. "You didn't notice," I lightly put some pressure onto it. "You're an eyesore," I pressed into his pressure point of his bicep, to where he would temporarily be paralysed at the arm. "I was scared of you," I dug my finger into his skin as his face quickly contorted. "But look at you crumble...just because you didn't know I was smart enough to hurt you."

The leader was easily succumbing to the pain. It looked like he was trying to fight back.

"Boss!" Giyu and the others held back his group by their weapons.

"This will be the first time that your ass was beaten by a woman. Remember my face if you will. I don't respect vile dogs like you," I pulled my left arm back with my hand facing up, and lunged it forward, connecting my hand to his jaw. I could feel every movement in the blow: the jaw connecting to his skull and his teeth scraping against his lips. "So many things can happen when you suffer from a blow to the jaw, did you know that?"

"Boss!" his group dropped their stance with Giyu and the others, and ran towards their leader. In that quick moment of the occupied men, Giyu tugged me back to him, gripping my waist firmly.

"Let's go before they notice Kirika," Shinobu said quietly, as we all ran back to the estate.

As we ran out of the village, Giyu didn't let go of my hand. He held it tight so I wouldn't be lost again. "Giyu," I panted from keeping up with his speed. "You're running too fast!" I felt my legs burning. I've never ran this fast in my life. "We're already out of their sight!" my legs died down from running, which caused him to stop with me. "Gosh…! My lungs are burning!" I dropped to my knees and fell on my side. I could hear my heart racing as I tasted blood in my mouth.

"Let's go," Giyu stared down at me. It was like the running didn't affect him at all, unlike me.

"You're not human at all if you don't feel the pain I'm feeling…" I didn't want to move a limb. "Carry me then," he nodded and gladly picked me up, and carried me on his back.

My head rested on his shoulder as he walked behind Shinobu and Tanjiro. "I tried to help myself than letting you guys protect me…" I muttered in disappointment. "I wish I was stronger like you guys,"

"Kirika, you were strong today. You clearly showed us that you were capable to disable a person for a short time. I was amazed. You're not that little crying girl anymore, you're a big girl now." Giyu laughed, and I hit his shoulder as I laughed.

"Shut up! I'm not a big girl, I'm more than that." I pinched his cheek.


	7. Chapter 7

"Kirika, let's go."

"What? Where?" Giyu dragged me out of the estate, as I was confused about what was happening.

"We're all going to Ubuyashiki resident," Shinobu added out of nowhere, as she walked behind us. "Including the trio. We're all called because we need to train the lowest ranks, so they don't die out so quickly during their missions."

"So why am I going? I'm nothing special. Shouldn't I be staying here or settle down in a new area?" I didn't know my life would change so much after meeting the trio and Giyu. "Because technically, I have no association with you guys…"

"Kirika, you do have an association with—"

"Shut up, Shinobu." I quickly responded to her statement. I knew what she was going to say before she could even say his name. "You play too much."

"Aw, you're such a tease. You're turning out to be like him too!"

Gosh, I knew why Giyu doesn't interact with Shinobu at all. She's very talkative, snarky, and kind of annoying. It's like she knows where to hit a person's feelings.

As we traveled by foot, we made a pit stop at a village to refresh ourselves. I had the trio surround me because Giyu ordered them to. "Come on, you guys don't have to stick to me like glue." Having them around me made me stand out since I had Inosuke growling at people who would come near me, Zenitsu who would cry when he saw someone scary-looking pass by us, and Tanjiro who was being stiff and alerted.

"But Giyu said—"

"Where's Shinobu?" I asked them in annoyance. Being with the alerted boys was just like being with the snarky Shinobu. If going to Shinobu would cause me less attention, I would go to her.

"She's over there," Zenitsu pointed where she stood in front of a stand.

"I'm heading over to her, and you boys find something else to do." I suggested, walking away fast from them.

When I met Shinobu, she quickly brought up the one and only Giyu to me. "Wow, do you see those flocks of women staring and gushing at him?" Giyu was occupied talking with a vendor while girls were eyeing him and blushing as they watched him. "Aren't you jealous? They might steal your— Agh!" I jabbed her side from speaking any further.

"Anyone can have him. It's his choice if he wants to marry or not. And no, I'm not jealous because either way he's gonna marry someone he loves. I'm just a childhood friend of his, nothing else." Giyu was so clueless about the girls' stares. I wasn't sure if he was acting like that on purpose or not to ignore their presence.

"Excuse me," a young man suddenly approached me and Shinobu. He had short black hair and brown eyes. He seemed like an average man in town, nothing special about him. "Are you Kirika Chiba?" the young man turned to me, and Shinobu was just as confused as I was about the situation.

"Yes, and you are?" I slowly linked arms with Shinobu, closing our gaps between us.

"I'm your fiancé!" his words took me to another level of what the hell. I knew nothing about this man, nor this engagement he's talking about. He was talking insane.

"I'm leaving!" I turned my back on him and walked away. I wasn't having his bullshit of lies because it wasn't true at all.

"Wait! You have to believe me!"

"Back off. She doesn't want to talk to you as you can tell," Shinobu stopped him from following me, or tried at least.

I was so furious. My hands were balled up white and my face was red. I couldn't believe that yesterday's event was tying me up to this dumb event.

"Kirika Chiba, believe me! I am to be your beloved husband. See I have proof!" he pulled out my family's pendent.

I was shocked that he had one in his hand, but I also didn't believe it at the same time either. "No, I don't believe you." I crossed my arms, fuming over his trick. "It is identical to the one I have, but you could have stolen it from my house, dug up my parents' grave, or pickpocketed out from my servant. Get out of my face," I demanded coldly. "I don't know who you are, but your trick was foolish." I turned my back to him again, but this time he caught my wrist and pulled me back.

"I'm not leaving without you." His grip was tightening up, as his true desire was to take me and bride me up. He was different; his aura was menacing.

"Kirika!" my name was called out from instant fear.

"Screw off!" I punched his face with a lot of force. I didn't care if my fist was hurting from my knuckles connecting to his bone. "I'm so sick and tired of you animals. Just leave me alone!" I lifted my leg up to kick his groin. "Show your face to me again," the trio was pulling me back from the fallen man. "And I swear on my life that I will kill you personally!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was ready to fight someone who would dare to pull a stupid move on me.

"Calm down, Kirika." Tanjiro stood in front of me to block my view of the animalistic man. "Your heart rate is beating too fast! Calm yourself before you get a heart attack." He tried to shake me into my senses, but I couldn't help and think about murdering all the men in my life who tried to wed me. I was a ball full of rage.

"What happened?" Giyu finally heard the commotion and decided to ask.

"I don't want to talk about it!" I refused to answer because the more I thought about it, the more I got mad and red.

When we arrived to our destination, I met the other powerful pillars. They all wondered who I was since I wasn't involved with the demon slayer corps at all. "Who is she?" one of them asked.

Then Shinobu chimed, "It's Giyu's soon-to-be…" she winked, hinting the wrongful message to them.

"I will punch you, Shinobu. I have so much rage right now." I stared at her with my dead panned eyes.

"Oh my gosh," this pink-green haired hashira appeared in front of my eyes. "You're so beautiful! You're the one that every man wants." Right there, she insulted me. It struck my heart so bad that I wished my heart would crawl out of my mouth and run away.

"I'm...insulted!" I placed a hand over my enraged heart and soul. "I've dealt with so many marriages, that I hate my life so much! I have one encountered yesterday and today. I'm going to bust someone's face because of it." I felt my anger rising.

"Oh, I didn't mean to make you mad…!" she looked worried and regretful at the same time, but now I felt bad for letting my anger get to me.

"Don't be sad!" I quickly changed my attitude and facial expression. "I'm just saying that _this_ beauty is killing me. I had enough of it already."

"Maybe if we swapped hair colors then it wouldn't happen to you." She chuckled. "My hair color is a turn off and I'm unnaturally strong too for men to marry me." I stared up and down at her, and noticed how her uniform showed her breast area. I didn't know that was even allowed to show, but I can't say much since I'm not in the corps. Overall, she was gorgeous. She has the ideal body and looks. I didn't know why she couldn't be wed off.

"Let's switch lives. My life would be so much easier if I didn't gain much attention." I sighed, while for her, she wept.

After the introduction, I was put into a room where I would reside for a few days. I lied on my side, thinking about nothing. My mind was in complete boredom until I heard the door slide open, to which I hastily got up and turned my head to see who it was. "Giyu?!" he casually walked inside, and looked at me weirdly.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I can ask you the same question!"

Giyu shut the door and stood in front of me, "I'm supposed to be sleeping in this room," he plainly told me.

"So am I…" then I paused, wrapping my head around this situation. "Are they setting us up?!" I went on my feet so fast and I was about to storm to the other pillars and fight them, until Giyu stopped me from rushing out.

"Hey, forget about them. It doesn't matter if you're sleeping here, I don't care." He pulled me back from walking out the door. "You can't fight me against your strength…"

"Okay, okay," I knew I couldn't out match him, so I stopped resisting.

"Tell me what happened at the village. I've never seen you so red...besides yesterday." I stared into Giyu's eyes before telling him what happened.

"I wished I wasn't beautiful! I wished I didn't attract dirty men! I wished I was dead! I hate carrying on life if it's meaningless! My life has no meaning—" I was rudely interrupted by Giyu yelling at me in full disappointment when I was only ranting.

"Don't say that you'd rather die! You have so much more to live for! Saying you rather die because of men wanting to marry you?! That is stupid." I've never felt so mad towards him, not even once as children, but this time it hit home.

"Shut your ass up, Giyu!" I retorted in anger. "You don't know how it's like when you're a woman. Who do bad people kidnap the most? _Women_. Who can't go out alone without being harassed? _Women_. Who gets scolded for not being perfect? _Women_. Women this, women that! Don't tell me that I shouldn't feel this way towards closed minded men like you! You men don't understand anything that us women go through on a daily! I know my life isn't bad, but I don't want it at all. I don't seek any attention, I never asked to look so 'beautiful', nor I wanted to be born! I was pure luck to be alive than to be miscarried like my other siblings I could've had." I didn't want to see his face. I was overpowered by my emotions that I stormed out of the room.

My feelings were so bothered that I left the residency. I didn't want to sleep in the same room as him after what happened. It didn't matter how short we've known each other after our years apart, but it should've been obvious that I hated marriage coming to my hand. "What an airhead!" I threw out any ornaments in my hair to the ground as I walked the trail back to wherever it may lead me. "I'm never going back! I don't ever want to see any familiar faces again because they'll drag me back in order of Giyu's words." I kept walking until I couldn't see the residency at sight.

It was hours until I was completely lost of where I was at. "Damn, look where I am now." I hit my head lightly from my stupidity in letting my annoyance control me. "Forget it, I didn't need Giyu anyways. I was doing just fine without him." I kept walking straight, unknowingly from what to come.

"Kirika Chiba! I finally found you," I turned around to see the average man from earlier, but this time, I had a bad feeling in my stomach.


	8. Chapter 8

"Kirika Chiba, I'm here to take you away." The creepy man walked closer to me as I started to back away from him.

The atmosphere started to get heavy and thick. He wasn't sane, he was something bad...really bad that I had the urge to run away. "Get away from me!" I took off running in a different direction. The adrenaline in my vein was scary. I was terrified for my life and what's to come after it. I ran into the woods to cut him off. All I could see were large trees, but I heard his heavy panting every step of the way.

"You can't outrun me! I've been waiting for this day ever since I laid my eyes on you." My stomach twisted in disgust. He sounded like a hungry wolf. I was his prey and he was my predator.

My lungs were burning from my irregular breathing. I had so many thoughts running through my brain as I started to feel regretful of my action for leaving the residency… but I made the choice to leave, so I'm the one to blame for getting myself into this situation. "Ack!" I yelled from tripping over a big root. His panting sounds were getting louder and louder, as I felt a twitching pain growing in my ankle. "Shit!" I knew I wouldn't be able to run at full speed because I sprained my ankle.

"I got you…" I yelped in pain as he pulled my black hair back. My scalp was on fire from his rough grabbing. "It was a foolish decision to run in the woods," he whispered into my ear before taking me away from the woods.

"Let go of me!" I swung my arms as he was trying to clip a chain around my non-sprained ankle. "I don't want to be here!" But from retaliation, I was smacked hard across the face. The feeling stung that I felt a tingling sensation.

"Shut up. There's no need for you to whine about your life. You chose to get yourself into this mess,"

I lifted my hand and touched the stinging pain, and it brought back memories from my household…

"_How could you engage in adultery?! Am I not enough for you? Is our family not enough?" Mother's voice cracked as tears were swelling from her eyes. _

_I stood behind the ajar door, listening in to their conversation. I was confused on what they were arguing about, but mother was very mad at father. _

"_You can't give me any children! Throughout our marriage, you gave me one child—a daughter—out of the rest you lost. I wanted a son to pass our values and last name down, not a useless daughter who will be sent off to another family and forget about us." Father yelled at mother in hate and regret. _

_I stared in shock… My heart shattered into many pieces. Father never loved me, he was only there because mother was able to conceive me. He never wanted me… _

"_That gives you no reason to commit— AH!" Mother screamed from a hit to her face, and I bolted up from where I watched and ran over to her. _

"_Mother!" I hugged her in my arms to protect her from father's hits. _

"_Kirika…!" _

"Oh? Someone's quiet now. Before you were so physical, and now you're not after one hit to the face?" he sneered at me, laughing at my distraught figure. I screamed at him, almost hitting him, but he caught my hands before it could land onto his face. "Just because you're a woman, I will hit you…. After all, you're mine. I can do whatever I want to you." He again slapped the same area of my face, and in response, I shrieked, spilling out small tears from my eyes. "You will learn how to be obedient under my house."

While he was trying to order me to do things in the house, my instinct was to stab him to death because there was no way out of here. I gripped the knife I was holding as I chopped vegetables for dinner. I couldn't afford to be treated like this. "Is this how you make someone love you? By abusing them," I turned around to stare at him reading a book at the table. I hid the knife behind my back, so when he peered closer to me, I'll stab him, but my mind was having two scenarios created: one is I kill him, or two is he caught onto me and hurt me again.

"I'm shaping you into a better wife. I will tame you, even if it means to break into your mind and crushing everything good in your life." Being riled up from his words, I dumbly charged at him. He knew it was coming so he pulled my long chain attached to my ankle, causing me to fall down in the process. I fell, loosening my grip of the knife. He walked over as my head was swirling and kicked the knife out of my hand. "Don't play like that," he shifted his hands to my neck and squeezed it tightly, cutting my supply of air.

I was gasping for air like a fish on dry land, in need of water, but for I needed oxygen. My fingers were trying to scratch his hands off from my neck as he stared deep into my eyes. "I'm very smart, Kirika Chiba. I will get what I want from you because I'm crazy in obsessed with you. I hate to see you in so much pain because someone can't listen… so that's why I'm going to have to discipline you!" my world turned upside down as I was getting beaten up.

I was screaming in agony as I couldn't form any words from my mouth. My body was aching and throbbing all over. Blood was seeping through my mouth and nose. I couldn't fight back due to him being stronger than me. He would punch me all over the face and body, telling me to repeat his words of obedience. But I couldn't say it, I couldn't let this abuser break my spirit. My mind said no, but I knew my body wanted to say yes so the beating could stop.

"It's not that hard to say!" he picked me up and threw me to the wall. I didn't have time to react as I was too focused on my pain. "Just say it and this lesson will be over!" he grabbed my face, forcing me to stare at him.

"Never!" I spat at his face which he threw me to the ground and started to beat me over and over again until I couldn't move.

Seconds felt like hours as I didn't know how long it took him to stop hurting me. I was on the brink of blacking out, or possibly death… but this was a sad way to die.

"You look like a wounded deer in its own pool of blood." I was breathing very slowly, feeling my chest and ribs aching. Each breath was agonizing. There was a sharp pain to my ribs, and I knew for sure he broke them. He had no words to say to me as he walked off, leaving me in a bloody state.

As much as my body was hurting, I was drawn into la-la land to save me from this reality I lived in, but la-la land only made it worse.

"_Kirika…!" Father was in shock to see me protect mother. _

"_Don't hurt her!" I cried out. My emotions were swirling around, not knowing what to feel. "Get away from her!" I let out a piercing scream. _

"_Servants, take Kirika away!" Servants were trying to make me leave, but I didn't want to. I couldn't let him hurt mother. A man would never lay a hand on a woman. _

"_You're not a father or a man! You're an abuser!" I shouted in pure frustration and anger to him. "A father and a man would love their wife and children, but you can't love any because you were never fit for this role!" I kept taunting him, to the point where he came charging at me, but he was stopped by his servants from laying a hand on me. I saw in his eyes he wasn't my father anymore. He was a different person. _

I woke up from my black out and stared at the ceiling above me. It was funny how I started to remember the memories that I blocked out from my head. My family was never perfect—it was broken when he committed adultery and ruined what a family should've been.


	9. Chapter 9

I didn't know how long it's been since I was kidnapped, but I knew there wasn't a way out. My body was covered in black and blue, and it ached so bad. Every limb was burning if I put any pressure on it. I felt so horrible. This part of my life will haunt me forever and I don't know if I'll ever recover from it. Recover from the pain, from the memories, from the sensation of abuse. It's a lifelong stain I'll have to remember.

"Someone's become so quiet now. Is Kirika actually succumbing to my lessons? This fighter lost its fire to clash back. It was fun while it lasted, but I can't hit you any longer because we are to be wed soon and I can't have you looking all beat up because of me. You need to look beautiful again without those bumps on your face," he leaned over my shoulder and started plant kisses from the ends of my shoulder to the base of my neck.

"Stop!" I used the energy I had and pushed him away from me. Beating was one thing, but touching my body was another thing. "I don't want you to touch me… not until we're married…" I hated how I had to say that to him so he could back off.

"Awh, don't be such a sourpuss. Your body will be on fire once it feels my touch." My stomach was turning in disgust.

"Well, assaulting isn't right either. Marriage is first then intimacy is next." I pulled my top to cover my neck.

"You're too cute." He played with my hair. "I wonder what you'd be like when we become one." He giggled, and I felt like throwing up my insides. I was gonna hurt myself if it came to the point of that.

Whatever I did in the house, he would find a way to "help" me in order to touch me. He clearly knew I was vulnerable at the current state I was in, so he could pull any moves on me and I would be useless to his attacks.

"Put your distance away from me," I was going to voice whenever I could because I couldn't let him have control of me. I wouldn't want to live my life broken from an insane man.

"Why?" he whispered, rubbing his body against mine. I was dying in disgust, so I purposefully gasped in pain.

"Ah!" I bent over, holding in my ribs. "I told you to go away. All your abuse hurts my body. You possibly broke my ribs… I need you away from me." I paced my breathing as I calmed my contorted facial expression.

He laughed at me, "you got me there to believe that you were in pain. You will get used to it, don't worry." He extended his hand out to my hair, but I hit his hand back.

"If you touch me," I looked at him seriously as I wasn't playing anymore. "I will kill myself. I won't hesitate because I'd rather die than live with a psychotic person like you!" I severely warned him, tightening my fists.

"And I…" his hands were fast to choke me. "Won't hesitate to hurt you if you're being disobedient, like right now. But I'd rather not, so we are going to wed tonight since I'm eager to explore who you are." I gasped for air when he released his hold.

I coughed violently, holding my wounded neck.

"Your handmaiden will be arriving shortly to pick your wedding attire and decorate the shrine we will say our vows underneath." Then he walked away from me.

I was surprised to hear that he tracked down my handmaiden when he said she would be coming soon. As I thought back to the family pendant he told me on our first meet, he must've stolen it from her because there was no other way he could've gotten it for sure. Then a thought hit me, my handmaiden can help me escape and be free again. I prayed to God for her to help me, for her to see my terrible state, and for her to help me live.

I sat on a stool, sewing fabric together to make something. I was so bored of this place that I did whatever I pleased to touch. My needle pierced through fabrics as it created nothing. My mind was set on my handmaiden walking in— I wanted her to help free me. If I were to be imprisoned in this house, I would take my own life. I wouldn't have no idea how to live on, or to cope with this. My chest felt so empty and sad.

After making no effort of sewing fabrics, I placed myself in a corner. I recalled life of when I was happy, but everytime my eyes would falter to see the chain wrapped around my ankle, I would feel so depressed. The chain only brought memories of abuse and captivity.

"Kirika, would you like to see my doves?" He appeared out of nowhere, as he wanted me to see his possessing.

I thought for a second, to formulate an idea I could use from the doves. "Sure," I replied, already having an idea of escape to be taken place.

I would write an emergency letter to whomever gets it at the Ubuyashiki resident and be saved, because I don't know who else could help me. In order of me to do that, I'll have to do it in secret.

He was showing me his lovely doves he's been collecting since he was a child. He talked about his childhood, but I ignored it since I had no interest in listening to an abuser. Walking passed him, I opened up the cage that locked up the poor doves. "What a prisoner like me…" I pity our lives. It didn't matter if an animal wasn't human, it still has emotions and can feel pain.

I held the white dove in my hand, stroking their back with my rough hand. I brushed past the talking man and went inside the torturing house. "I hope you can save me, and when you do, I'll set you all to be free." I whispered softly, staring sadly at the dove. I had to rely my faith into the messenger bird.

"Why'd you walk away when I was in the middle of speaking?!" He finally stormed inside after realizing my action.

"Shouldn't you get yourself ready for the wedding? And also be concerned about my handmaiden for not arriving yet. You know she is the one to bring me my wedding attire, and if I don't have it, there is no ceremony." I angrily declared, glaring into his eyes. I needed him to leave so I could send a message. "Go search for her, and don't come back if you don't want to get married." I threatened him, knowingly he will go find her because he wants my hand in marriage.

He grumbled at the situation that unfolded and quickly walked out of the house, saying no words to me at all.

I waited for a few minutes to pass by, then what I felt like an eternity, I finally went into his room to write out my letter. I kept the bird right next to me as I quickly wrote sloppily but readable words.

"_To whom may help me:_

_Follow the bird and you may see the version of me who is broken and abused_

_It'll be before nightfall where I am forever a prisoner and fated to die later_

_I will leave a trail to follow… save me before night has fallen_

_From,_

_Kirika Chiba" _

I rushed myself to fold up the paper and tie it to the bird before he came back. My heart was beating from his arrival that may be coming back quicker than expected. I ran out to the back of the house and released the dove in the air. My heavy feelings and thoughts flew with the dove as I waited for someone to read the message. I hoped anyone was still there.

"Your handmaiden is here!"

The clock was ticking


	10. Chapter 10

I slowly took my time to get inside the house, as I wanted to prolong the time I had left before the forced marriage. Every step I took, the ground creaked and I felt like dying. I didn't want to accept my fate, I didn't want any of this at all. I wished I wasn't born. My unborn siblings were lucky to dodge this life, unfortunately, I was not.

"See Kirika! I found your handmaiden, as quick as I possibly could." His smile was beaming with his face all sweaty from a hard hunt. "So now," he pushed my former handmaiden to me and ushered her to get me ready. "I won't unshackle you until you're all ready for the ceremony." He evilly teased. "I will be outside of the house to give my future wife privacy,"

My handmaiden took me to a room and stared at me in shock. She grabbed my face, making me look into her terrified eyes. "Lady Chiba…" her voice broke, as well as her heart. Her fingers scanned over the bumps and bruises all over my face and neck. "What happened?" her eyes were on the verge of crying.

I inhaled deeply, composing myself before I told her the truth. "Well…" I started my story at the beginning where she was let go to the end where my current situation lied. "If they don't come for me, I'm taking my own life. I couldn't rely on you to save me because… I care too much to see you die because of me. He is a vile person… I managed to survive this long without ending myself. I am covered in bruises, I possibly have broken bones from him, but I am glad to see you again." I smiled through my tough and painful exterior and hugged her. Feeling her warm hug made me cry from all the things I went through. My hot tears wouldn't stop rolling as I wanted to escape from reality and keep holding onto my handmaiden.

"When I saw you in black and blue, I realized that you resemble your mother when she was hurting from your father, Lady Chiba. Life wasn't all so pretty for the household, but luckily I was able to save you from the unhappy parts." She stroked through my nasty and tangly hair. "I'm sorry you had to go through this."

"I know… I'm sorry for myself too."

My handmaiden combed my hair back, making it silky smooth and started to put on the shiromuku. "This was your mother's when she got married. Your ceremony is supposed to be a day to be happy not sad." She fitted the clothing around my body, tighten it a bit so it wouldn't look too loose.

I couldn't express my dead feelings. I was nothing when I wore my mother's shiromuku. It felt dishonorable as I soiled the attire with my sadness. I was drained, I was sad; I felt like a zombie. My handmaiden tried to make me talk as I couldn't form any words in my mouth. I became mute before the ceremony. There was too much dishonor wearing the shiromuku and looking like a hot mess.

"Look at me, so I can cover up your marks." My painted face covered all the horrible treatment I've received from the last few days, but it couldn't cover the bumps only the discolored skin. "Your sorrow eyes hurts me so much…" my handmaiden had to look away from me for a split second to regain her composure.

"Wow!" he appeared into the room unannounced, as his aura was different from earlier. This time it felt suffocating from immense anger. "You're so stupid to believe that someone will help you!" my handmaiden screamed as blood formed on her kimono.

"No!" I screamed, running over to her, but he quickly dragged me from her dying body. "Let go of me! I hate you! Just die already!" I was sobbing like crazy, melting off the makeup which covered my discolored face. Her eyes locked onto me, it looked so gentle but I was confused why it would.

"You will learn that doing things behind my back will only cause you pain!" He dragged me out of the house to the shrine where we were going to wed. I felt so stupid, just so stupid to say my plan out in the open. I should've known he wouldn't have left. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but all I hope now is someone to save me.

He held the chain that stopped me from exiting the house as we walked to the shrine. "I told you I would unlock it, but I changed my mind after hearing your mischievous plans. You're never going to be saved, you're never leaving me, Kirika. I am your rightful spouse and you are mine." He stopped walking and pulled my face close to him, showing who had authority.

"Go to Hell!" I spat at his face and continued walking.

Each step I took to get there felt heavier. My body weighed a ton as I had to force myself to walk to the shrine. "This crazy ass man is trying to kill us by having demons attack us!" I realized that the sun was setting, and the night was when demons are out and alive. "Wait," I turned to look at him. "Why are we wedding right now? Don't you know that demons will be out to find food?" I started to feel anxious as I thought about what happened to Giyu's sister. She died by the hand of a demon at her wedding.

"Why not? Til death do us part right? I don't mind dying by the hand of a demon." He laughed madly. He was definitely insane and I was not safe at all. I doubt I will be saved in time.

"You're a psychopath! If you will not die alongside with you," I stared at him in disgust. "But if it is to end my torment with you, then I don't care if you die…"

"You will die with me no matter what. We are fated to be with each other."

"No, you took everything from me. You stabbed my handmaiden! You stripped my freedom away from me! And you think beating me is okay?! You're beyond insane… You're a monster." I stared into his cold eyes, feeling so disappointed and scared for my life. "You will know what Hell feels like when you die tonight."

The sky was casted red and I was in the shrine with him. I've never felt so disappointed in my life until this moment: wearing my mother's shiromuku as I wasn't content with my life. Seeing the priest made it harder for me to believe that this moment was happening— having my life sealed to a monster until we parted by death.

As the ceremony was happening, the priest was speeding up his talking before nightfall could hit, but at this point, I didn't care if I were to die by a demon. I needed an escape from the psychotic person.

"Hurry up and finish the vows!" he rushed the priest by pressuring him.

I, on the other hand, couldn't take this heavy weight on my shoulders. Every moment was dreadful. The sun was quickly setting as demons were ready to awaken from their slumber. The wind was howling in the sky, creating cold breezes in the air. I kept looking back to see if anyone was coming, but I saw nothing. My insanity also started to rise. "I'm sorry…" I had to do it. My life wasn't taking a turn, so I was going to do it myself.

I tackled him down, despite my injuries and soreness, and forcefully sought for any blade that he had to kill the both of us. When I finally found the blade, I whipped it out and swiftly stabbed myself in the stomach. The sharpened blade easily broke through my skin, piercing itself into me. This pain didn't hurt as much as his abuse— this pain was a good pain, a relaxing pain. It felt like nothing can hurt me again. I fell on my back from the fatal blow. Breathing was painful and short, the wound stung, blood seeped out at the corner of my lips, and blood was expanding out on my attire.

"No!" He screamed, ripping out the blade from my wound and also stabbing himself. "I will die with you…! I'll do anything...to be with you…!" He was smiling through his pain, but I hoped he died quickly.

The priest yelled in horror as his bride and groom were killing themselves, and prayed for our souls before running off.

"You idiot…!" I breathed heavily, as I forced myself to sit up. "I'm not dying with you yet!" I ripped the chains out of his hand and slowly yet painfully stood up. "I didn't stab myself in a vital area because of course I knew you would be rash and stab where you'd likely bleed more." I finally had the last laugh as he was losing tons of blood. "I won't die here with the likes of you!" I staggered out of the shrine and dangerously walked out in the dark blue starry sky.

I pressed my hands against my bleeding wound and paced my breathing. I wasn't losing much blood, but again I was attracting demons around me even more than I should have. I felt so numb from the chilly wind as I walked somewhere. I didn't know where I was going since I wasn't familiar with the area.

"It seems like I don't even have to kill you if you're already dying. Eating that one man in the shrine was delicious," I looked over my shoulder to see a demon drenched in blood from the mouth down. "I thought I didn't make it in time for the ceremony, but I did." The demon laughed, before it walked toward me.

"Ha! I'm so glad you ate him. I'm glad that he got what he deserves." My chest felt so relieved from his existence. I've never felt so safe after his death.

"Now, it's your turn…" The demon approached me, as I backed away from it. I knew I couldn't outrun it, but I had a feeling that I wasn't going to die today.

"You're wrong!" a new voice came in, and in a blink of an eye, the demon was slain.

"Kirika?! Are you okay?" Zenitsu grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

I couldn't feel happy as much as I was now. I was glad to see the trio who came to my rescue. "I'm happy… I'm okay…!" I held in my tears and hugged him. "I need to be treated immediately. I'm bleeding but not excessively."

"Right!" Zenitsu scooped me up in his arms instead of letting me walk.

"Where's Giyu?" I noticed that he wasn't there with them.

"Well…" Zenitsu inhaled sharply before telling me. "When you never returned, Giyu got worried and started to search for you, but he couldn't find you day after day…. Sooooo," he again inhaled, prolonging my question. "He locked himself up in his room, never leaving because he felt guilty from your disappearance. I don't know if he even eats. One of the pillars received your letter, but instead of telling Giyu, we took it. Tanjiro suggested that Giyu wasn't in a stable situation so it was better to leave him be until we secured you."

"Oh, I see…" I found it interesting that Giyu had a mental breakdown because of my absence. I didn't think I would've affected him so much. "When we get back to the residence, I'm going to patch up and tend to him." I couldn't believe I made him feel that way. I kind of feel bad leaving him in a distraught state. My heart felt heavier what would happen to him if I were to die because of the last few days of being captured.

"You're handmaiden has passed away too. She told us about what happened, and her last words to you was: you should live your life with content, she loves you so much, and you've grown into a fine woman who can help yourself." I felt like crying when I heard him talk about my handmaiden, but I couldn't cry while Zenitsu was taking me to safety. "She also told us to tell you that she released the doves for you since she knew you couldn't." My heart shattered into many pieces that couldn't be repaired. She stuck with me to the very end, and she still died for me even after I thought she wouldn't.

When we finally arrived at the residence, I was immediately taken into the nursing room. Shinobu was the one who was stitching me up. I told her what happened to me because I knew she wanted to ask, but didn't because of my appearance. "What he did was horrible, but I have to move past that…" I took a few minutes to take in what happened to me.

"But I'm glad you're safe now. Giyu has been crying in bed for days, and nobody was able to get him out of there." Shinobu helped me change out from the wedding attire into a lightweight kimono. "And I'm also glad that you didn't stab yourself in a vital area. You could've underwent major surgery, but this one was light and easy." She softly smiled at me.

I slowly walked in the halls to find Giyu's room. I tried to use my memory to locate his room since we were supposed to sleep together. When I located the room, I quietly slid the door wide enough for my body to slip through. There I saw him curling up like a fetus in his futon. I didn't know if he was sleeping or not, but seeing his position made my chest ache. "I'm so sorry…" I hugged his fetal positioned body without trying to rip my stitches open. "I've only caused you so much pain ever since we met." I breathed in his scent and brushed his hair away from his face. Giyu never looked so broken in his sleep—through tiredness he still had a remorseful expression that couldn't be washed away. "Would've been better if you've never have met me?" I pondered sadly, feeling like I was the cause of his suffering. "I hope you can forgive me."


	11. Chapter 11

I was groaning in my sleep as I felt something wet on my face. I was unconsciously confused, then I started to hear someone quietly trying to hold in their sniffing. "Mmm… what is that?" I forced myself to wake up and see a blurry face. "What…?" I rubbed my eyes, clearing my vision to see Giyu in tears. "Oh god!" I panicked and quickly using my sleeves to wipe his teary eyes away before hugging him tightly. "Don't cry, Giyu! I'm sorry!" I rubbed his back gently. "I know I caused you pain and I'm sorry for that… but I didn't expect myself to be kidnapped because I stormed out,"

"What?!" Giyu pulled back and stared into my eyes with horror. His hands firmly gripped my shoulders and pushed me down to the bed, as he hovered above me.

"Well I…" I started to feel embarrassed as my face flushed due to our position. "Was kidnapped…" I gulped dryly. "I don't know how long I was gone, but I was severely beaten as you can see on my face. Ummm…." my eyes drifted away from his. I felt weird looking at him from this position, it felt so intimate. "I was going insane every night and morning. We almost wed, but then I stabbed myself so he would also kill himself too—"

"Where?" Giyu's voice was concerned yet firm. I was confused why he was acting so troubled by my words. He should feel relieved that I am alive.

"Giyu…"

"Where did you stab yourself? Let me see," his clammy hands were trying to undo my kimono which triggered an unpleasant memory of my hostage and I had to do something.

Before he could open up my kimono, I grabbed his hands and kicked up my leg to roll myself on top of him. "Giyu!" I yelled at him, staring down at his shocked figure. "Get a hold of yourself! Stop acting so weird. You're making me uncomfortable." I released his hands and flicked his forehead.

Giyu quickly uttered out an apology, "I'm sorry… I-I was—"

"Shut up," I covered his mouth with my hand. "I'm telling you my story. So," I resumed where I left off. "When he stabbed himself, I ran off as night fell. I was going to die, but I didn't because I was saved by Tanjiro and them. Zenitsu took me here…. Oh yeah, on a sad note, my handmaiden passed away last night because she was killed by my kidnapper. When I arrived here, my wound was tended and I visited your room to see you sleeping, and I guess I knocked out in your futon too," I laughed off, trying to make myself feel better than the terrifying event. "But Giyu," I moved off of him and sat beside him. "I'm sorry I caused you so much worriedness. I ask myself if seeing you was worth it? Going through the pain to be around you…" I grabbed his hand and finished my sentence, "and I say 'yes' because every moment with you makes me happy since I missed out my childhood with you. Just let me know when you find a wife, so I can start distancing myself from you." I joked, trying to change the air. I didn't want to feel sad anymore, I wanted to feel happy.

"Who said I'm going to get married?" He uttered like no one is going to be on his ass about marriage.

"Well, everyone will settle down later in their life. I will find my someone in the future, you know? I can guarantee you that I want to be married with children." And I quickly changed the subject, "Why don't you get ready? I bet your colleagues are waiting to see you return healthy and happy." I peeled him off his futon and brought in his folded uniform to him. "Get ready. I'll see you outside," I smiled, patting his head before leaving him to change.

I decided to place myself in the kitchen and cook meat buns for everyone. My insides were telling me to spread kindness, so I wanted to cook a small snack for everyone to eat and feel warm inside. Being in the kitchen made me feel like a hard worker: I was chopping meat, rolling out dough, steaming meat buns all by myself. "Ahh…" my hands were cramping up from the constant hand workout. "This is a good sign that these meat buns gonna be delicious!" I grabbed one to taste and indeed they were delicious. "Mmmm! I'm in heaven!" The food moving down stomach made my organs danced.

Then I headed out to find the pillars and training corps officers. When I stepped out, I didn't find anyone around my surroundings. "Where could they have gone?" but then something hit me. "Wait! I need to give some to the head household family first!" I didn't know why I forgot about the Ubuyashiki family, so I ran around the floor to find where they resided. "Hi Lord Ubuyashiki, I'm here to give you some meat bun I made for everyone. It would be an honor to serve you this…. I hope you'll like it!" I pushed a serving towards him, hoping he'll like it.

I watched as he picked up the meat bun and delicately chewed it off, taking his time to swallow it. I was breaking a sweat watching him eat my food. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins as I was scared to hear his criticism.

"Chiba," Ubuyashiki called out my name, causing a bolt of electricity to shock my whole being up.

"Yes!" my straight back was stiff and formal when he called my attention.

"This is wonderful," his compliment eased my chest so much that I thought I was going to die by not breathing in the room as suspense built up. "I'm honored to be the first to eat it." He lightly chuckled, letting me relax myself around him. "Chiba, I'm glad that you're back. I heard what happened, and it must've been terrible."

I wondered how he found out, but I guess I can't be surprised since it is his house to know everything that goes on around here. "Yeah, it was… but I'm putting that behind me now. It's all in the past."

"As everyone informed you, my child Giyu locked himself… even I was surprised when nobody could bring him out to me. For those days that you were gone, I had servants to check up on him to see if he's doing alright and is properly eating. It pained my heart to see him act like that while you were abducted, but now that you are present, I want to see him happy. Chiba, you are the one to make him go on with life. You are very dear to him, and I appreciate you sticking with him. I hope you continue to stay close to him and be his anchor."

"Yes I will, Lord Ubuyashiki!" I bowed before exiting myself out of the room. I felt so thrilled to know that Ubuyashiki acknowledged me, it made my heart explode. However, the things he said about Giyu made me feel like our relationship seemed so transparent. Everyone could read us easy by one glance.

Traveling around the residence, I gave out meat buns to everyone and they smiled, appreciating the snack. Their sweet smiles made me feel very happy inside, especially when their eyes lit up from their taste buds getting savory flavor washing over their mouth.

"This is really good!"

"The meat bun taste like Mother's cooking,"

"You should make more. This is too good to eat it once!"

The compliments boosted up my energy and happiness to a whole new level of exploding.

"Kirika," I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

"Yes?" I turned around to see Giyu looking at me.

Giyu stared at me, scanning over my kitchen attire. Suddenly, his hand laid on top of my head covering. "You look like a mom wearing this."

I felt a quick shattered, my world was breaking down when he called me I looked like a mom. "Don't call me that…! You're making me sound old and married, and I'm not in those categories. Giyu, apologize to me! You hurt my feelings." I stared into his dark blue eyes, giving him the puppy stares.

"You crushed my existence when you disappeared." He clapped back at me.

"Giyu, apologize to me now!" I pouted, puffing out my chest and staring up at him. "I know I hurt you a lot, but you insulted me. If you don't apologize, you're not going to get meat buns!" I threatened, holding true to my words.

"Ou, meat buns…!" It was the pillar of sound, Tengen Uzui. "If you don't mind if I do!" He grabbed three meat buns and ate it in one go. "You're cooking is great. Kirika… although you're not a kunoichi, I want to take you in as my fourth wife."

I was flabbergasted. "What?" Tengen's words took me by surprise. "I know sharing is caring, but in all honesty… I don't share the love of my life with another woman. I reject your offer," I had to inhale deeply to get a hold of myself because I wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"Aw, don't look so sour Giyu. I was only playing to see your reaction," Tengen laughed, poking the vexed Giyu. "I wanted to know if you love her because Shinobu has it that you guys flirt a lot."

"Huh?!" My face flushed red. "That's not true. She's making things up! Me and Giyu are good friends." I quickly said, crossing my arms and weirdly looked at Tengen.

"Sure…" Tengen wasn't buying any of my words. "I know you and Giyu will become lovers." Then he changed his attention to Giyu who was watching. "Giyu, my man…" He slung an arm around Giyu's shoulders. "To get a wife—"

I didn't want to hear Tengen's methods of snatching a wife. "I'm going to excuse myself…" I awkwardly fled from the scene.

Continuing to hand out meat bun to the others, I stumbled across the love pillar, Mitsuri Kanroji. "Kirika!" Mitsuri ran over to me and her eyes smiled. "I'm glad you're okay," she hugged me then released me. "I'm sad to see what he did to you. It breaks my heart," Mitsuri frowned as her heart twitched in pain.

"It will heal, and I will be alright." I smiled to assure her that I was going to be fine.

"Oh yeah!" something popped into Mitsuri's mind as if she forgot to tell me something. "I cleaned your shiromuku." She handed me my folded shiromuku. "It was kind of hard to take off the blood, but after a few attempts, all the blood was gone and it looks new."

My heart felt so touched by her kind action. "You didn't have to do that for me, Mitsuri. I would have cleaned it myself…" I pressed the folded shiromuku close to my chest.

"I don't want to see you strain yourself, so…" Mitsuri took a few steps closer to me and snatched my cart of meat bun. "I'll do this for you. Go rest, Kirika. You've done enough today," she happily smiled, waving me off. "Keep walking. Walk back to your room."

I had no choice but to walk back into Giyu's room since I wasn't allowed to roam anymore.

Sitting down, I held my secondhand shiromuku from my late mother. As I stared at it, my heart weighted many emotions from childhood to adulthood. My mother had endured a lot with my father and I somehow blocked the bad moments of them fighting and arguing. Placing the folded shiromuku next to me, I laid on my side, staring at the wall far from me. Emotions were pouring over my existence.

The sliding door opened and I knew it was Giyu because who else wouldn't chase me down other than him. "Kirika, I was trying to find where you went—"

My whole attitude change within an hour about marriages. "Is marriage worth all the pain and suffering?" I cut him off with my question. "Is it better to be unmarried and live freely without any problems?" My eyes started to swell up from memories of my mother doing so much for me, protecting me from the harsh reality of life and relationship.

"Why do you ask?" His footsteps gradually got louder as he was coming closer to me.

"I don't want to suffer…" a tear rolled across my face. "I don't want to be in my mother's shoes—a few days ago I was in her shoes… I wanted to end myself." I quietly sniffed. "The idea of marriage is overrated. Being married isn't in my to-do lists anymore… I just want to live my life now. I don't need a husband to be happy, I don't need children to bring a new generation, I—"

"Kirika, why are you acting like that? Turn around and look at me." Giyu placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed firmly. "Face me and talk," he gently spoke.

"No," I refused. "I want to be alone."

"I won't leave you because I know you were alone when you were kidnapped. I don't want you to be by yourself. It's okay to cry to me. You know I'm here."

"Do you want to know my thoughts during my hostage?" I slowly turned myself over and stared at him with sad eyes. "Are you prepared for the dark thoughts that occurred?" I breathed out heavily.

"Kirika," Giyu moved a strand of hair out of my way and gently stared at me with a different face from usual. "I will always listen. You're not alone," it made my heart feel at ease when he said that to me.

When I spoke about my evil thoughts of hurting myself and flashbacks of my family, a wave of emotions piled up and I was on the verge of crying. I didn't want him to see me cry, so I covered his eyes from looking at me. "Don't look at me while I cry. It's not a pleasant sight…" my voice cracked as I sniffed my running nose.

"Don't be like this," Giyu removed my hands and surprisingly pulled me into a hug. This wasn't like Giyu, this Giyu was new. I was pulled into his chest as I tried to stop my crying. "I know you are hurt. This will take time to heal, don't force it." He stroked my hair, trying to calm me down. "You don't need to speak any further… unless you want to." His touch was so warm and accepting. He made me feel like crying wasn't a bad thing to do in front of him.


	12. Chapter 12

"Where should I go?" I stared at the road ahead of me. "Back to my hometown? Reside in a new location?" Their training was over, so I didn't know where else to go. This was my new beginning and yet I was afraid of being alone.

"Go home with Giyu," Shinobu teased, laughing away as she was going back to her estate. "The next time when I see you, you'll be full term."

"Come on," Giyu tugged my sleeves, indicating me to follow him.

"Wait! You still want me to come with you? But why?" I started to catch up to him since I knew he wouldn't stop moving to talk.

"Where else are you supposed to go? You yearned for adventures than residing in your hometown. Why would you go back there? There's no way to gain new experience without following me."

"But… Are you sure you're okay with it?" I moved myself in front of him, halting his movements. "I don't want to be a nuisance. Giyu, don't force yourself to… it doesn't matter if we've known each other for a long time." I was going to blabber on, but he squished my cheeks together to lock my mouth from speaking and further.

"If you were a nuisance, you wouldn't be at my side right now. I'm taking you in because I want to."

"Really?!" My eyes lit up from his heartwarming words. I felt so special and cared. "Okay, just wait! Don't move." I was wrapping a long cloth to cover my face for precaution of people staring at me.

"Why do you need that?" Giyu stared at me in confusion as we continued to walk.

"Because…" I thought back to my hostage days where beauty was painful, and tilted my head down. "Being beautiful is a curse… so to me it's better to cover up my face in public." I quietly spoke. I didn't understand why I felt so weak talking about my new fear.

"Let them be jealous of your beauty—"

"But I don't want to be kidnapped again…!" I latched onto his arm, stopping our walking again. "Giyu, it's a scary situation to be in, and… and…" my head was full of unprocessed thoughts that I was jumbling over my words.

"I'm sorry." He pulled the head covering forward to hide my face and started walking, holding my hand like a child.

"Giyu, you don't need to hold my hand. I can walk perfectly fine without any help." I tugged my hand from his hold. "It's kind of you to care, I appreciate it very much." I gently smiled at him. "I look forward to what kind of life I hold now. Where are we going?" I asked, since he never told me where we were going.

"Home," Giyu simple replied, peaking my curiosity even more now.

"Home? You mean our hometown we grew up in? Or it's a new location where you reside in?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," A small smile curled on his lips, causing me to question him even more.

"Giyu…!"

After some time of walking, we had to make a pit stop due to the sun setting. The horizon was colored red-orange. "Let's go find a place to sleep tonight," Giyu again held my hand as we jogged to find an inn nearby us.

Staring at his running figure made my heart leap. At a different angle, he looked like a man than a childhood friend. His mature, stoic face and tall body made him looked handsome.

"Oh god!" A spoken thought slipped out of my mouth.

"What's wrong?" Giyu stopped and geared his attention toward me. "Did you see something?" His face appeared closely to mine, causing my face to flush.

"No! Don't worry about me. L-let's get going before nightfall!" I ushered him to keep on moving. I couldn't believe my thoughts of Giyu shifted from an old friend to a man. Maybe it was all because of Shinobu's influence by saying dumb stuff about me and him. My mind couldn't revert back to seeing him nothing more but a friend. In a new lens, he was very attractive, to which it was hard to look away from.

"Here's a room for you both," the receptionist led us to our shared room since separate rooms weren't available for either of us. "Use the outdoor bathhouse before it's too late. Have a goodnight to you both," the receptionist left, closing the door behind us.

"Umm…" I felt more flustered to see only one futon on the ground. "You go bathe first!" I gestured him to go ahead of me. I had to calm myself from my head playing tricks with me about a new image of Giyu.

"Why? Let's go so we can rest faster," It didn't phase him at all that we both had to be naked in front of each other.

"G-Giyu?!" My face turned into a tomato. "It's okay! I can wait…" my body was on fire of lewd thoughts and embarrassment.

"Come on, let's go." Giyu wouldn't listen to my pleads, thus dragging me with him.

"C-can you go into the water first and look away? I don't want you to look at me nude… it's embarrassing," I muttered quietly, as I fiddled with my kimono.

"Yes," his footsteps made his way to the bathtub and submerged his body into the steaming water. "Alright, you can go now. I'm not looking,"

Although I did trust Giyu, I still wanted to double check if he wasn't looking at me. I was taking precaution, and started to undress myself as each article fell onto the ground.

I rushed to the bathtub and jumped inside, putting myself far away from Giyu as possible. My arms were covering my boobs as I looked away from making eye contact with him.

"Why are you sitting so far?" Giyu questioned, but it didn't seem like he was understanding the situation. Who knew he could be this dense?

"I'm giving myself space since… you _know_," I tried hinting at him that we were two different gender naked in front of each other.

"I know what?" His face wasn't registering what I was saying.

Curling my legs up to my chest, I continued to avoid explaining any further. "You know, Giyu. It's not that hard to figure it out between a man and a woman. That's all I'm going to say…"

Silence fell between us as running water was the only noise in the bathhouse. "I'm going to head out now…cover your eyes," I moved as my submerged body was hiding from embarrassment and taboo. I would kill myself if he saw how my body looked since we weren't married nor lovers.

"I'm almost done," I was fully covered and excused myself from the bathhouse to give Giyu space to get ready.

In the room we shared, I paced around, fanning my body from every second of remembering Giyu in the steaming tub. He was relaxing more than worrying about taboo. It was like he was letting off steam about slaying demons and saving people. He looked like a fine man to stare at for centuries. "I need to calm down…!" The memory was letting weird thoughts enter into my head.

"Kirika," his voice calling my name jumped my soul out of my body.

"Y-yes?!" I placed an anxious smile on my face.

"This lady brought us some alcohol to drink. I was going to pass, but I didn't know if you wanted to drink or not." Giyu was holding the bottle and two cups at hand already.

"Sure since you brought it, and drink a little bit so I'm not completely drunk and the bottle isn't wasted either," I was going to drink my sinful thoughts away.

A few drinks flew by and Giyu succumb into the alcohol. "Wow, I didn't know you were such a talkative person while drunk…!" His face was red and he was smiling a lot too.

"Did you know…" Giyu spoke of nonsense. Some of the things he said didn't even add up with each other, which made me laugh even more.

"Ahahaha! You're so cute when you're drunk." I took another gulp of alcohol before stopping another round of bitterness running down my throat.

"Cute?" Giyu seemed unamused by me calling him that, then he moved closer to me. "You think I'm cute?" I couldn't tell if he was offended or not.

"Hehe…" I scooted back to the futon, putting more distance than needed to be far from him. "Yes…" I quietly admitted. "I'm heading to bed!" Before I could throw on the covers, Giyu appeared right before my eyes, hovering above me as he stared at me.

"You call a grown man 'cute'? Only little boys are called 'cute'."

"Giyu, don't be so butthurt about it. Go to sleep okay? You drank too much," I tried to push him over so he could sleep, but he wasn't budging to roll over into the futon.

"I'll show you what a man is," Giyu boldly declared, surprising me with an attack on my neck.

"G-Giyu…!" I squirmed underneath him as he sucked on my delicate skin. The sensation felt so good that it struck waves of pleasure throughout my body. The temperature of my body was rising from every movement of his lips. I didn't want him to stop as I was in euphoria. My body and soul wanted more from him, maybe it was the alcohol that was talking but I didn't care. "Keep going!" Our lips passionately met, battling for dominance.

It was a passionate drunken night where we let ourselves free, as our sticky bodies molded together.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning, I woke up to hear Giyu's snoring softly, but something felt off about me: my skin felt bare and cold like I wasn't wearing clothes to sleep. I worriedly lifted the blanket to see myself nude, as I looked around to see that our clothes were scattered. "Oh no…" a fear of dread washed over me. "What have I done?!" A quick recap of the night ran through my head as I remembered what we did. "Oh my…" I glanced over to Giyu who was still sound asleep, but was clearly naked too. "G-Giyu…" I mumbled, gently shaking his body. "Giyu, wake up," a big toll of my emotions was crashing on me, as I waited for him to awaken. I conjured up many scenarios where he didn't remember, or he was regretful of last night. "Giyu," my voice cracked from anticipation of his awakening, but he wasn't responding at all.

Then I made a decision, I was going to go my separate ways with him and never see him again. It was a painful situation, but what hurts the most was that alcohol was involved between our heat. I'd rather not hear what Giyu has to say if he remembered or not. "We met not that long ago," I hunched over to see Giyu's beautiful face as he slept deeply. My hand caressed his soft cheeks. "And I don't regret meeting you… but I am truly sorry to hurt you again by leaving. Maybe you'll remember what happened last night, but I cannot take the shame and be here in the same room knowing that what we did was sinful- not wedded and slept with each other. Here I will say it was a wondrous night with passion and fireworks… Giyu, forgive me for leaving you mad and broken." I planted a soft kiss on his forehead before collecting myself and leaving.

Seven months have passed and I resided in a village that was new to me. I was full term, ready to birth a baby in two months. I created a new life for myself as I told people that my 'husband' died from an illness, leaving me as a widow.

For months, I tried to occupy my mind from thinking about Giyu. The child I carried was indeed his, and coming back into his life would be a mess. I had no guts to talk to my unborn child about his father. "I hope you can also forgive me for not giving you a father," I rubbed my big belly, as I stared at the window from my house.

I found out I was pregnant shortly after leaving Giyu's side. It all happened because I fainted due to exhaustion, and this witch doctor told me I carried a life inside of me. It was hard to believe, but overtime, my stomach grew as my hunger increased.

Out in the market, I bought some fruits and couldn't help but overhear people's conversation about demons.

"He tried to claim it was a demon who ruined his family, but I think he's mentally ill by saying random shit so people could believe his nonsense."

"Demon or not, his family was slaughtered real bad. Heard that they were literally dismembered, and all their heads were right next to each other when someone saw the horror."

"What the hell…" I whispered, walking past gossiping people and heading to a secluded area of white flower trees.

I sat on the ground, chewing a peach as I thought about the awaiting child. The question that I had to think the most was: who was going to help me birth my child? Just imagining me doing it myself was going to be hard. I stayed gazing at the trees for a little bit before walking home, so I wouldn't catch a cold.

Walking through the lively village, I didn't expect to hear them. "Giyu, stop playing around." It was indeed Shinobu's voice, but I couldn't turn my head and look at them.

I needed to move forward and think about my little one's future.

"Kirika Chiba!"

"Oh gosh, why at this moment?!" I turned to the owner of the voice and saw the chief of the village.

"Do you know who these two people are?" I looked at who he pointed and it was Shinobu and Giyu who stared back at us since he didn't know how to be quiet.

"I…" I didn't know what to say, as I stared at the two demon slayers.

"They've been causing a ruckus, and nobody knows who they are. People have been spreading rumors about 'demons' lurking at night and they claim…" I tuned out the chief when our eyes met again. He stared in disbelief and I stared in complete sadness. It was like the world stopped for us to stare and not speak to one another.

Giyu broke out of his trance and ran towards me. "Kirika…!" Although he was far from where I stood, I could feel his emotions that swirled inside of him.

"He knows you?" The Chief moved in front of me, blocking my view of Giyu running towards me.

"Chief, I'll explain later. I need to go for a second…" I moved past the Chief and to the house I lived in.

I closed the front door and ran to my room. My back was against the wall as I held in my dying emotions. I knew my actions were wrong from months ago and I can't change that now.

"Kirika…! Please let me in! We need to talk. I need closure," his voice echoed in the air, through my opened window. Giyu was pleading, breaking into his vulnerable emotions.

"Sir, you need to step back from her property…" a voice chimed in, knowing it'll stir a huge commotion to which I gathered myself and walked to the front door and opened it.

Sliding the door, I let Giyu in without a word. "Don't worry about me… I appreciate your concern," I told the person who tried to stop Giyu from banging on my door.

As I slide the door behind me, Giyu never took his eyes off of me, especially when I was full term. "I understand what you're feeling—" but I was quickly cut off due to his eagerness of his questions being answered.

"You found someone?" Giyu put his distant between us, as he was emitting a hurtful pain in his voice.

"No, I didn't." Moving my hands across my round belly. "Let me start at the beginning," I stared at him, inhaling slowly. "I am sorry for hurting you…" I explained my personal reasons to him. "It's fine if you don't understand and I'll be okay whatever decision you make about now. I don't need to burden you with me and my pregnancy." I started to feel okay knowing that I was able to get things off my chest after seeing Giyu. Although my heart tightened in pain of giving birth alone and a fatherless child, I knew I was going to be okay.

"Kirika, come home."

"What?" I didn't know if I heard him right.

"I can't leave you. You are the mother of my child, and I should be there to support you. I will even go to the extend and marry you." His words were out of compassion because he wouldn't say things like this if he didn't want to.

"You…" my vision was getting blurry, as I quickly grabbed his hands into mine. "You're not just saying that right? Even if I wasn't pregnant, you'd still care?" A small tear slipped down my eye and I hastily wiped it with my sleeve.

"You are very important to me," his big hand stroked my head gently. "If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't have run after you or have you by my side." Giyu leaned over and kissed my forehead. I couldn't register his kiss because I was overwhelmed by his words. "I've lost so many people in my life, and I can't afford to lose you too."

"Okay…!" I broke down crying in front of him. "I'm sorry!" Giyu held me in his arms, letting silence engulfed us. It was a peaceful silence of forgiveness.


	14. Chapter 14

"Wow, I knew it! The next time I'd see you, you'd be pregnant." Shinobu laughed, intensely staring at my rounded belly. "Congratulations!"

"Shinobu…" I sighed, as I couldn't stand seeing her again. "I don't know what to say." I didn't expect my day to be like this. I thought I was going to live alone with my child until I die, but fate wanted something else to happen in life. I want to say this was a good thing to see Giyu alive, but we're in a weird situation after I left.

"I need you to stay here," Giyu turned to look at me. "I have to kill Muzan, the original demon. I promise you I'll be back." His hands were stroking my hair down, feeling his love and warmth.

"If he's the original demon, wouldn't that make him very powerful? I'm just confused on why you showed up now to tell me that you might die? That only adds more stress to me, to know that I may never see you again—your child won't know who you are..." My chest tightened from the thoughts of actually losing him because this may be the last time that I'll ever see him. Giyu has been passionate about slaying demons ever since they attacked his family. I wanted to be selfish and keep him here, but the pillars needed him and I knew he would choose them over me.

As my voice cracked, I tried to be strong, "Just go…" I couldn't look at him with my sadden, teary eyes. I turned away so I couldn't feel anything in my heart anymore, so I wouldn't see his torn face looking at me as he wanted to apologize from his heart. I tuned out everything to hear my slow heartbeat echo throughout the room. This was a painful goodbye.

"When you're ready I'll be outside." Shinobu excused herself from the tense situation. The door shut softly as she waited for Giyu to come out.

"Kirika," Giyu moved around to make me look at him one last time before he left. "Look at me," he gently caught my face, lifting it up so I can miss him in my heart and mind. "I will never leave you alone again. I can promise you that… But if Muzan is still breathing the same air as we do, who knows his next victim might be? I can't risk thinking about him turning or killing you." Small tears rolled down his face. It was harder for him to be stronger because he's keeping a promise that might not last, but I have to believe that he will survive since fate brought us back together for a reason.

I wiped his watery eyes away, "If your promise is going to keep you alive, then promise me that once you're back… take me as your wife." I rested my promise in his hands.

"I don't want you to be here alone. I'll take you to the butterfly estate so you're with Urokodaki." Giyu grabbed my hand and led me out of my house. "When sun rises and everything is over, I will come and get you." He broke into a small smile before taking me to the estate.

When I got to the butterfly estate, Urokodaki was waiting for me. Giyu kissed my forehead, repeating his promises that me and him said before letting me go for the last time. I hastily went inside the estate, sitting right next to Urokodaki.

"This is our first time ever meeting each other than reading about one another through letters." Urokodaki started the conversation to make me feel comfortable.

"I know. I don't know why it took us so long to meet in person… and I wished it didn't have to be this time of event." I exhaled heavily, rubbing my belly.

"I never thought the boy could love someone so hard. For the past few years, he's been taking his duty so seriously. He never talked about love or girls, and he was never a social person to begin with." He kept on talking about Giyu which made me very sad on the thought that daylight will be long from now. "Chin up Lady Chibi, Giyu is strong and he wouldn't leave you by yourself. He will keep on fighting til he sees you again. If you need anything, don't be shy to ask. I don't want you to be doing a lot now that you're pregnant. Rest for the time being."


	15. Chapter 15

"Kirika, I'm back…" My eyes flew open from his voice. I was overwhelmed by fear that I would never see his face ever again.

"Giyu!" I rose up quickly and threw my arms around his neck. My heart was beating so much, as I held him close to me. Our child was going to have a father, and I wasn't going to raise our child alone. "I'm so glad you're back," I pulled back to see his beautiful face. "I missed you so much!" I pecked his lips until my hand felt something wrong with his body. "Where's… your other arm?!" Giyu only had one arm, what happened to him?

"Kirika, calm down you're stressing yourself out." His voice was delicate as he spoke to me, staring into my eyes as his only hand was caressing my face.

"How can I not be stressed? You lost an arm in battle! But that's better than losing your life, but still, you lost an arm!"

"Just because I lost an arm doesn't mean I'm not able to do most things," Giyu leaned over and kissed my lips. "I kept my promise, and now I'm going to make your wish come true and take you as my wife, Kirika Tomioka. We're going to live happily because it's over. Our child's generation won't have to live in fear of surviving because of demons. I love you,"

"I love you too," I kissed him again before putting my head in the crook of his neck. "Tell me what happened." I pulled my head back to stare at his face. "Your eyes show that there've been countless deaths you've seen because of this fight."

We cuddled together in bed, as he opened his feelings, recalling what events took place. My heart broke, hearing that so many pillars had lost their lives to stopping the demon, Muzan. I held him tight, letting him sob out any sadness lingering in his heart. "There, there… They sacrificed their lives so everyone else can be saved, so no more innocent victims are targeted again." I couldn't believe that Shinobu was gone. I never thought that she would leave the world so quickly, but that was a job of a pillar and nobody will ever forget her deeds as the insect pillar.

After a while of holding Giyu, I heard commotion outside my room I slept in. Glancing down, I saw that Giyu fell asleep, so I got up to see what was happening. I breathed out slowly, holding my rounded stomach and slid the door open, "Oh my! It's been so long since I've seen you two!" It was Zenitsu and Inosuke. "Are you two okay? I'm so glad that you're not critically injured."

"It's Kirika, and she's pregnant!" Zenitsu cried out loud in the hallway.

"I'm fine," Inosuke simply answered, and it made me smile to see them well.

Aoi popped out of nowhere with her hands on her hips and an angry expression was shown on her face. "Why are you two still walking instead of resting?! Go rest you two!" The two males scurried away, so they wouldn't have to face Aoi's wrath.

The Aoi stormed off to see if the two boys actually went to rest or not.

Walking down the semi-busy hall, I bumped into someone familiar. I've seen her face before, she was the demon girl inside Tanjiro's box. "You're Nezuko! The last time I was with you was when you saved me from that demon lady who wanted to kill me!" She didn't have the mouth guard and she looked healthier than before. Her appearance changed from the last time I saw her, and from my intel of Giyu, she was human again.

When Nezuko started talking to me, she was so cute. "Oh my, how adorable you are!" I couldn't help but show my excitement to her. It made me hope that my baby was a girl.

"Kirika, we should head out now. I want you to get yourself settled at my place." Giyu said, as I turned around to see him fully awake.

"Don't you think we should stay another night? Just for your sake? I don't know how long it's been since you've been back, but let's stay one more night so you're fully rested." I wobbled my way to him and held his hand. "And besides, I want to see everyone too!"

Giyu held my waist as we both walked down to check up on Tanjiro. "You know I can walk on my own right? I don't really need your help." I chuckled, adoring how doting he was to me. It wasn't like I had trouble walking, my back ached from my huge stomach and with my pregnant stomach, my legs were spread widely because of it.

"I know you can walk on your own, but I want to be by your side since I wasn't."

Once we got to the room that the trio resided in, Tanjiro was peacefully sleeping. He had bandages wrapped around one of his eyes and both of his arms. Giyu assured me that he was going to be fine, and the daylight turned into nighttime.

"Sorry, Aoi. We're all relying on you to cook for us." I sincerely apologized as she presented us the food she cooked for everyone. Aoi was a hardworking young lady who never asked for help, but I felt really bad that half of the males were injured and I was pregnant.

"It's not that hard to cook, don't worry too much! I'm just as happy as you are that at least half the brave warriors who sacrificed their lives are here to eat." Aoi's content smile brought happiness to everyone at the table. It was a sprinkle of joy that we all consumed.

The next day later, Giyu and I parted ways with the others in the Butterfly Estate.

"Don't cry, Kirika. We'll visit them again, once they've fully recovered." Giyu wiped away running tears from my eyes. It a lot has happened in the course of two days for me. This wasn't normal at all: seeing familiar faces, many people were injured, Giyu lost his right arm, and so many more.

"Yeah I know," I sighed, staring down at my belly. "Our little bean is going to be coming out in two months. I hope we're both prepared for parenthood and we have to name our child too! When we're in your house, let's think of names for both genders."

"Yes, and I have to find a midwife to help you give birth too," Giyu planted a kiss on my forehead as we walked on the dirt ground to where I will live with him for the rest of my life.

"Let's have a big family, like six children in total!" I knew my upcoming pregnancies were going to be hard with multiple kids running around the house but I didn't care. I wanted the house to be loud and loved by our kids, and what I really wanted Giyu to experience was true happiness… After all, he hasn't gotten that until he found me and he was going to get more. "My job as your wife-to-be is to make sure that you're the happiest man with a big, loving family."

"We'll see about six children, Kirika. And my job as your husband-to-be is to protect you with my body and soul, and make sure that your eyes will never shed a tear again. You will be the proudest woman to marry a man like me. I love you," Giyu was so soft and loving, it squeezed my heart because it's been so long.

I stopped us from walking and I moved in front of my lover. "I am a proud woman to marry a man like you, I've always been. Our kids will also see the same in you. They will listen to their dad's story of slaying demons and marrying the love of his life." We stared at each other, letting this beautiful silence takeover as white petals started flying around us from the course wind. "I love you too, and it'll never stop!" Giyu bent down to passionately kiss my soft lips.

_Two months later after officially marrying,_

Sweat was drenching my face as the process was ongoing. "GIYU! HOLD MY HAND! THE BEDSHEETS AREN'T EASING MY PAIN!" I yelled in agony, squeezing his hand tightly. Our child was arriving right now with the help of a midwife. My womanhood was on fire from delivering my baby. "I don't know if I want to have five more children with this much pain!" I cried out streaming tears.

"Keep breathing! Push!" I followed the instructions from the midwife.

Just when Giyu started to talk, I knew he was going to pissed me off. "Do the breath of water technique that you've been learning—"

"STOP PLAYING WITH ME! AGHHHH!" There was a demon raging out of me because of labor. I kept pushing and squeezing Giyu's hand until he had to squeeze back to prevent his hand from breaking.

"I see the head! The baby is almost there!" When the midwife said that, it was a sigh of relief. I knew after the excruciating pain of childbirth, I will be able to hold my baby in my arms. "Push! Push! Push!" Then a cry rang in the air.

"Our child is finally here!" I released Giyu's hand and let him get the water and cloth to wipe our baby. His footsteps were frantic and it was the second or third time that I possibly saw him like that.

"It's a girl, Lady Tomioka!"

Hearing the gender of our baby, I dropped my knees down after all, my joints ached from propping it up for a long period of time. My chest felt light knowing that labor was done and I got to see my baby girl after nine months. Once the midwife was done cleaning our girl, she handed me my tiny bundle of joy.

Our daughter was still crying after being bundled up. "She's so tiny!" I started to cry from how precious our baby girl was. She was so beautiful and small. "Look how small her nose is! It's so cute! She has a lot of hair for a newborn." Her hair color was black. I wondered if she would have my green eyes or his blue eyes? "I can't believe we brought her into this world!" Her wails had stopped after hearing my voice.

"She's going to grow up to be as beautiful as you, dear." Giyu's face was warm and gentle. It was an amazing expression to see on his face. I loved seeing him at peace, it made my chest swell in warmth. "Asami…. That's her name, Asami."

"Asami will fit our little girl just right," I smiled tiredly at him. "I won't be able to move for the next few days, sorry for making you do most of the work."

_One month later, _

"Where are you going, Giyu?" I looked over at him heading out of the house while I rocked our little girl in my arms.

"I'm going to meet the Ubuyashiki family."

"Dear, you're not going without me." I got up and gathered my things for Asami, in case our little girl needed anything from us. "After you pay them a visit, we should see Tanjiro and the others. Show off your new haircut," I ruffled his hair, and we both walked out together.

"She has your eyes, dear. Asami is going to be so beautiful once she comes of age. All of our kids that we have will be beautiful!" I kissed my baby's forehead.

"Maybe be in a year or two we'll have another child,"

"You can say that you're jealous because I haven't been giving you much attention after Asami came into the world," I teased him, recalling his pouty face when he saw me showering love and affection to Asami than him.

"When she's asleep, you're going to show me the same affection too."

I waited in another room for Giyu to be done with the meeting. Asami was awake, making cooing noises as she stared at me with her innocent blue eyes. Asami was strapped to my chest. "Hi, my little bean!" I lightly swung my body side to side. "Once daddy is out from his meeting, you get to meet other family members!" A big smile appeared on my face. My little bean made me so happy to wake up every morning to see her awake and smiling.

"Okay, dear, we can go to the Butterfly Estate now." I saw Giyu and Sanemi walk out together.

"Hi Sanemi, are you also coming with?" I asked, moving next to Giyu.

"Yeah I was. I see that you both have a child now," Sanemi stared at Asami strapped to my chest.

"Yes we do! Her name is Asami and she's one month old. I'll show her to you and the others once we get to the estate,"

Arriving at the estate, Urokodaki was waiting for us. "Let me see my granddaughter," Giyu helped me unstrap her as he untied the cloth and I held onto Asami.

"This is the first time that she'll meet her grandpa," I handed Asami to Urokodaki, and she wasn't fussing about strangers holding her. Asami was such a good girl from not crying, she tried to grab Urokodaki's mask.

"Grandpa?" Giyu looked over to me in confusion.

"Of course! Urokodaki took you in, he's like a father figure so he's going to be Asami and our future kids' grandpa." I hooked my arm around his body and pulled him in.

Holding Asami in my arms again, we walked inside the estate and immediately encountered the two kiddos: Tanjiro and Nezuko. They were so excited to see us, as they ran over to hug us.

"You cut your hair!" That was the first thing Tanjiro noticed, and Nezuko was hugging Urokodaki.

"He cut his hair because his baby Asami kept on pulling it!" I laughed, remembering the times where he told me to help pull out his hair out of Asami's viper grip. "Giyu's more handsome now," He was very attractive with short hair. I'm glad that he didn't cut his hair short before we met, or else we wouldn't be together.

"THE BABY!" Both siblings looked over at me, seeing that I had a small baby in my arms. Their eyes were doll-like as they saw Asami awake in my arms.

"She's so adorable!" Tanjiro and Nezuko were huddling around Asami. They were in love with her by the looks of their soft expressions.

Then somehow I met Tengen's three wives: Hinatsuru, Suma, and Makio.

"Oh my gosh, you're Giyu's wife! And that's their daughter that Tengen was talking about to us!" Suma came over to look at Asami. "Wow, she's so beautiful! Tengen, can we have children too?" Suma looked over at her husband with puppy eyes.

"Maybe later, but not now." Tengen made his way over to see the child he's heard of from a letter. "Hmm… Cute baby. Giyu is a lucky man to have a beautiful wife and child," he said laughing with his chest out.

I still remembered when Tengen joked about making me his fourth wife.

Giyu and I stayed at the estate for a few hours. Everyone was in one room as it was very lively. Asami was laying on blankets, looking at new faces she had never seen before. She was nonetheless smiling and cooing from the attention she's receiving.

My right hand ran through Giyu's short hair as he rested his head on my lap. "I never thought that fate would bring us together. We have a beautiful family, and we're going to have more in the future." I pinched his cheek lightly, grinning about our bright future we had without demons.

"Neither have I, but I'm glad that we did encounter that day. I should be glad that you never settled down for the men that wanted to wed you." He gently grabbed a hold of my wrist to kiss the back of my hand.

Then something funny popped inside my head, as I knew it would make everyone laugh til their stomach hurts. "Do you guys wanna hear something funny that Giyu told me to do while I was giving birth?" Everyone was laughing from what I told them, and the atmosphere in the room was warm and loving. Seeing people happy without worrying about demons was a life that everyone wanted, and it came true with a heavy cost that no one will ever forget.


End file.
